"The king shall have joy in Your strength, O Lord; and in your salvation how greatly shall he rejoice! You have given him his heart's desire, and have not withheld the request of his lips. Selah."
How do 20 Higaunon believers and two pigs travel more than 50 miles to this week’s bi-annual church conference in the Philippines?
They hire two motorcycles.
The load included all of their luggage, but it's not as bad as it sounds because the pigs didn't bring any luggage.
"These motorbikes have a frame built on the back of them with two planks of wood tied crossways to them and they often carry up to ten people plus the driver," wrote missionaries Ron and Michelle Jennings. Two people sit behind the driver, and two boards that they call wings stick out on each side in order to carry eight more.
"They told of how they braced themselves along the highway as big buses overtook them with other buses coming the other way and they prayed thinking they were going to be squashed between them," the couple wrote. "Then on the mountain roads they described how many times they crashed as the bike could not stay balanced on the rough roads.
"It's OK though, they said, with the wings sticking out the way they do the bike can't actually crush you, you just get toppled off."
Hiring the bikes cost the believers the equivalent of two weeks' wages.
"Anyone who is willing to go through all that to attend a Bible conference and stand at this end rejoicing in God's provision in getting them here has to have a motive that is little bit beyond the natural realm," wrote Ron and Michelle. "They just decided what the Lord wanted them to do and placed themselves in His hands."
Golly, how often do you and I get so caught up in the "how" that we lose sight of what God wants us to do? How often do we forget that, yes, of course you and I can't do that -- and that's the point! If God wants us to do something, we need to trust Him to make it possible.
Don't feel bad. That's the lesson Julie and I needed to learn before we could become missionaries, and a lesson we need to relearn on a regular basis. But don't ignore the lesson either.
What do you need to do, and trust God for?
Thank you for taking part in our ministry, which makes ministries such as those among the Higaunons possible.
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