He is Faithful

The first time I went to Orphanage Emmanuel was in May 2008 with a group from the college ministry at FBC Opelika. Over this past Christmas break I went back to that beautiful place praying that if God was really calling me there He would make it crystal clear. He did. He had already made it clear to me before that trip, but I guess in His unlimited patience He showed me again. So when I got back to the states in January the preparation continued. Side note: He's been preparing me for this before I even knew I was being prepared. If the Lord was calling me to stay there for an entire year I knew it would take money – money that I didn't have. So I started praying about it. How am I going to raise $5000? What do I do about my student loans? I waited and waited and waited – no answer. So I began brainstorming (or more like googling) ways to raise money for missions. I had decided that it would be best to send out letters to friends and family as a source of prayer and financial support. My goal was to send out those letters over Spring Break. I still had not received an answer and didn't have a peace about the letters, but how else was I supposed to raise the money? I would receive my answer two days before Spring Break from an incredible follower of Christ who lived in the late 1800s. I had been reading A Chance to Die: the Life and Legacy of Amy Carmichael by Elisabeth Elliot and was brought straight to my knees when I read the following:
"Now we give unto Mrs. So and So who wrote us a begging letter, or Miss So and So who called the other day with a collecting card and unfortunately we were in and could not get off without giving her something. … May there not be some clue to the money mystery in these thoughts taking as our keynote three sentences, not very much believed in nowadays:
"The silver and gold are Mine."
"Ask, and ye shall receive."
"My God shall supply all your need."
1. Is the work for which we want the money God's chosen work for us, or our chosen work for Him? If the former, will not He see after the money necessary? If the latter, then how can we expect anything better than we have?
2. Can we expect a blessing to follow money given grudgingly?
3. Should we not see that our Root is right, before expecting flowers and fruit?

The answer was no. Well then Lord, now what? Faith. You see, Orphanage Emmanuel is a testimony to what the Lord can do when His children are obedient and walk in complete faith. Their root is Christ and he has produced flowers and fruit. The place is proof of His faithfulness. "Test me in this…and see if I will not…pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it." (Mal. 3:10) Now I have been given another opportunity to step out in faith and this time I'm choosing not to pass it up. He has called me to this chosen work and He will prove Himself faithful to supply all my needs so that people can see that it is Christ who receives all glory. Needless to say, the letters have not and will not be sent. I am beginning to see a glimpse of His promise in this. My first step was to book a flight - $690. Except for my parents, no one knew this had been purchased. When the bill came in for the plane ticket, a few people had "randomly" given me money for Honduras. The total amount received - $710. Talk about unbelief. It's no accident that the math ended up like this; it is part of His promise if I will be obedient in trusting Him. He is faithful.