It was the last day at this site.  I’d preached on how God provided for Elijah through the birds, the brook, and the widow.  These guys are now seeing the flow of funds from the USA begin to dry up – as the schedule dictates.  Believe me, Elijah had a lot to say to them.  I challenged them with my story of how God had met my needs down through they years.

After the message, Luana and I handed out as gifts the Lincoln pins I’d acquired from the Chamber of Commerce.  We took a bunch more pictures and had tea.  And then it was time for one more breakout session.

We men took our chairs outside on the shady side of the building.  I asked those 48 guys if they would share with me stories of how God had provided for their needs.  The first man stood and began to speak, but almost immediately from high above from a pipe jutting out from the building a stream of water descended into the center of our circle.  No one got too wet, but it made for a lot of laughter.

We relocated out under the palm trees, and men began to share from their hearts.

One story in particular is worth repeating here.  Seems one of the guys was newly married a couple of years ago, and he and his bride had used up all their funds on the wedding.  She asked her man what they were going to do, since they now had no money. As they were riding to their home on his motorcycle (150cc is about the largest here), she wasn’t, in the translator’s words to me, “seated properly.”

The groom stopped the bike for her to reseat herself, but as he did so, the bike that was behind them sped by.  The rider was chewing tobacco, and as he passed he spit, covering the husband’s shirt from shoulder to elbow with the foul liquid.

The new husband looked down and saw a wallet lying in the road.  He surmised it was the chewer’s wallet and began pursuit.  But the offender thought he was being chased to be beaten by the irate groom, so he rolled it on, as we bikers say.  The young pastor sounded his horn, but that only made the man go faster, and the pursued eventually disappeared from view.

The couple stopped their bike.  The young man searched the wallet for identification.  There was none, but there were bills amounting to RS6,500 – about 150 USD.  That was a huge amount.

The pastor concluded his story by saying, “We figured that God was meeting our needs.”

It was a funny and true story, and it does underscore that Elijah’s God has not changed over the centuries.  He still feeds the birds of the air, clothes the grass of the field, and cares for his people!