Sometimes in life you go through some experiences and wonder how it will all work out but most of all you wonder why this happened in the first place. This week God has answered that question for one of those journeys for us. As I had written recently Hovensa, the oil refinery here on the island, is closing in a month, leaving many without jobs and possibly any hope of finding another one. The job opportunities are quite bleak here to be honest. God IS able to provide one, but maybe there is some work that needs to be done in the hearts of those losing the jobs. Maybe God wants us to have a deeper closer walk with Him. He knows that when things are going well our relationship with Him is not as close. Maybe God has a work He wants to do through you and the only way He can do that is to have a broken heart.
God allowed us to go through the job loss experience. Billy had a good business building homes, with employees, making a very good income. The bottom fell out in the home construction business and the small businesses could not keep going. Some major adjustments had to be made in our lives. We still had a mortgage payment, the regular bills that go along with life, and auto repairs, etc. Now many would be quick to ask "What did you do wrong?" We also asked that question. Things in life just happen sometimes!
But God had a plan, which at the time we couldn't see. We were actively involved in our church, reading our Bible, and felt we were doing what God wanted us to do. God began to rekindle the fire in our hearts for missions. It made sense to put our house on the market to sell. We contacted a realtor and soon people were coming to look over our house. Now that was uncomfortable at first. We had built the house from the foundation up ourselves and still had mixed emotions about selling it. Months went by and no sale. Since the housing market was not good for the seller, we kept reducing and reducing until finally after two years it sold. We came out debt free with very little profit. That still hurts today!
During those two years, work projects came in to help us keep our head above water. The bank worked with us so we could pay interest only on our house mortgage. It was a rough two years...but God was faithful! As our hearts were breaking, He began to mold and shape our hearts to line up with His desires for the plan He had for our lives. All we could do at times was to just trust and obey...seemingly with no answers.
But God still had His plan He was working on. We came to St. Croix as missionaries in November 2010. Both of us have been working while trying to raise support to stay here. God gave us the opportunity to start a Children's Church and be involved in the bus ministry for children. The other morning before going to work, I felt God clearly speak to my heart. It was like He was saying you KNOW what it feels like to lose a business, have to sell your home, and start over. You need to help those and show them there is hope. The only hope is in Jesus Christ!
What an AWESOME God we serve!
"Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God." 2 Corinthians 1:3-4
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