Like falling off a log...

God makes it look soooo easy!

We have orders from the Lord to relocate our mission.

So with a prayer I went scouting on an island that I have never looked around on, outside of the port town.

Within 6 hours, He lead us to a house.

"No biggy." You might say.

This place of 70,000 people has no real estate agents, I had no car, I knew no one there. I simply went directly to the desk at a hotel I have never stayed at, asked a Chinese girl, who vaguely remembered seeing a for rent sign on a side road. Rentals are super rare here, as there is no foreign business, and Asians do not move house as much as Westerners.

Within a few hours I was being wisked around by a Chinese guy who's boss had a house out in the countryside (as the Lord told me to ask about).
It's half the cost of where we live now, and far better suited for the Mission in a thousand ways.

No way I would have found this on my own...

It's dumb to doubt.

Awesome. Amen. Thank you Jesus! I am praying regularly for your ministry. God is good. Keep us informed. Thanx.

I sure will, Mike...keep praying as nothing has been finalized yet!

To add a bit more zing to this story: Our Chinese friend, Eng, came with us to do the bartering on our third visit(helped a wee bit). After we toured the place (which she declared "haunted"!) she wanted to go find a scuba diving centre and ask about a decompression chamber she ahd heard about. I am a diver, but much too busy with that stuff right now. So I would never looked it up on our own.

We found it, and it's runned by a Southern guy from Tenneessee, just over a hundred miles from my hometown! He's been there since 1987, and was as shocked as me to find a feller Man of the South way out here. He's quite a locally respected man, and will no doubt be of great help getting things legal and done right.

Without asking he let us know that the local Chinese considered that whole empty modern neighborhood we are moving to "haunted"! Eng was stunned.

Now, me and my wife are not convienced of that, but speculate that the Lord has sent angels to reserve the place; for us and what else, we wonder???

Wow. Too cool. I hope that by living in a so-called "haunted house and neighborhood" that God can be glorified and the gospel spread like wild fire. Again, you are definitely in my prayers. BTW, I too am dive certified and do not have as much time to explore the greath depths as I would like.

Amen, Ikan!

The Lord certainly does provide!

I find it interesting and exciting to hear of your experiences there.

Daryl and everyone!...keep praying as nothing has been finalized yet!
TODAY pray for the owner's heart to soften, as he does not want to repair anything if we move in (it has been expensively repaired recently) We do not know how well the air-conditioning works, a absolute necessity at the equator, especially since my wife has MS. We had made their check-ups a condition, and now he may just back out all together...

PRAY...The Mission here is at a clear cross-road and the funds are extremely low.

You are in our prayers for sure. The good news is that if God wants you there, it will all work out in God's own timing. Isn't it a blessing to be able to rest in the Lord? Knowing that He is fully capable of supplying all our needs? He has been so awesome in setting me and the kids up in a Christian school and for an affordable price. I know He is watching over you and your wife as well.

God bless,
Wendy

Thank you all for your prayful petitions to the Lord for His mission here.

There is much in the world today that appear to be "missionary work", but God sees as not.

The standard is low or basically faithless, seeing that men set the rules and limits.

I hope that I understand this verse fully:

" True missionary work is that in which the Saviour's work is best represented, His methods most closely copied, His glory best promoted. Missionary work that falls short of this standard is recorded in heaven as defective. It is weighed in the balances of the sanctuary and found wanting." {6T 230.1}

As long as God is the one making our plans and we aren't deceiving ourselves by implementing our own ideas, we don't have to worry about our work falling short. I'm sure that you don't have to worry about that. I know that you follow biblical principle in making all your decisions, not your own ideas. God bless you and please keep us updated.

Wendy

Thanks everyone for your prayers.

The day I asked for your prayers, absolutely everything we considered advantages and openings slammed shut! The house was refused us with no explanation. I looked an others; they were expensive and run down. The Southern man became distant and leary. The Chinese contacts revealed there true intentions...money. The legality of living in that country was shown to be difficult.

It was quite an humbling and sad boat ride back for me; what had looked so promising was a real lesson in staying put where He has placed you, even when it is difficult and inconvenient. We are more grateful now that we are in Brunei then we have been for years.

Perhaps this was His intention; sometimes we allow our children to visit other's homes for a little "sleep-over" for them to see how they live.
They become grateful of home when they return.

I just posted these below elswhere here on MSDAOL; now I see they were meant for us!!!

" Missionaries are needed to go to other nations to preach the truth in a guarded, careful manner...Those who engage in this work should not consult their ease or inclination; neither should they have love for popularity or display." {3T 204.2}

Vol.4
"The Lord frequently places us in difficult positions to stimulate us to greater exertion. In His providence special annoyances sometimes occur to test our patience and faith. God gives us lessons of trust. He would teach us where to look for help and strength in time of need. Thus we obtain practical knowledge of His divine will, which we so much need in our life experience. Faith grows strong in earnest conflict with doubt and fear. {4T 116.3}

I guess it was like falling off a log in this instance in the sense that what was thought to be a done deal was anything but that.

There have been many times when things have come about very easily that were God's will for us here. Other matters required much prayer. But nothing has been done because of our "efforts" or minute planning.

The enemy of souls knowns this, and will manuever his slaves into place to make a situation that, on the surface, looks like heavenly intervention.
Satan has studied all of our lives carefully, and knows many triggers to lead us into presuming on God's leadings.

Example: When Lazurus was dying, the disciples were stirred up by their sympathy by Satan to urge Jesus to go rescue him from death. If He listened to them, we would have never raised Lazurus days later from the dead, thus robbing the Gospel Message of much power and proof of His Godhood.

"Pray AND Watch..." is the key. We cannot let our guard down at anytime.