Nine years ago, we needed a $20,000 miracle and we needed it within a month’s time. It seemed impossible. I was heavily pregnant with our third child and our living expenses just seemed to increase with each passing week. We had a land mortgage for the property we were building our house on plus our rent for our current home and the rent for the ministry center in the city.
I’d heard stress was not good for pregnant women and since this pregnancy followed a miscarriage, I wanted to make sure that I didn’t do anything to hurt the baby inside me. God heard my prayers and it was one of the few times I remember not feeling stressed. We needed the money to build the framework of our house. The foundation had been laid and we were awaiting a container full of materials that was being shipped from the U.S. to the Czech Republic.
A friend had e-mailed us about our finances and I remember writing him the amount we needed, which is probably why I remember the sum. We had been missionaries to the Czech Republic for five years and we believed God had given us a vision to build a house for Him. One of the key verses He gave us was:
“Unless the Lord builds the house, the workers labor in vain.”*
We’d purchased a piece of land in a foreign country as our seed of faith and prayer to reclaim the nation back for God. Our missionary friends tried to dissuade us and the reasons they gave were logical and they meant well. But we wanted to be obedient to God’s call on our lives.
Even so, we’d put a fleece out — praying that if the government would not allow us as foreigners to buy the land, then we would know that God was closing that door. But in what seemed like rare exception, we were able to legally purchase a plot right next to the forest in a new development. What’s more a Czech bank gave us the loan we needed. Even then, we did not have the funds to actually build the house.
It gives me hope just remembering how at the of the month when our support report came in, we saw a little over $20,000!!! Half of it came from someone we’d never met in our entire lives. And we knew then, that the Lord was going to build our house if only we’d trust Him.
We are still building that house … nine years later, even though we moved in six years ago (something that is common in Czechia.) As thankful as we are for our beautiful house and for the fulfillment of the vision (we’ve had visitors from 14 different nations worshiping with us), we are learning that the most important thing is not the physical house. Rather, God never meant for us to overlook the heart of the home which is a family knitted in the love of God. And we are in a season, where we are once again praying for another miracle and we are crying out to the Lord to build our home. He’s been a great provider and we are trusting Him to provide the healing and help we need.
“Unless the Lord builds the house, the workers labor in vain.” Ps. 127:1*
Thanks for sharing your story! It is amazing how God provides and it is so encouraging when we see that and know that he is guiding our steps!
Just today my husband and I were reading in Ephesians about how God is able to do far more than we can think or imagine … now that’s amazing. What an amazing God we have!
Amen! Wonderful message of God the PROVIDER!
Thanks for stopping by Rebekah!
It’s always amazing to see how God provides and I find it helps so much to look back and remember what he has done in the past.
Thanks Bethany. It’s been a hard year financially for us and remembering God’s faithfulness in the past gives us hope and faith to trust Him in the present.
Good truths to meditate on today. Thank you for sharing your story of how God worked that financial miracle in your ministry, Hulda!
What an inspiration! I am over-joyed hearing what the Lord can do when we simply put our trust in Him. I will be standing and praying with you…..believing for your house-of-love to be blessed to the fullest. I feel blessed and honored to have met you and your family. I have never met missionaries up-close-and-personal, and now I feel like I am also a part of the mission. You can count on me and my family to support you in any way possible.
In His Love,
Grandma Darlene