It was September 2015, four months before we were to transition from pastoring to full-time fundraising for our mission project. We strongly felt the call to return to foreign missions, but the logistics weren’t easy. Most AFM missionaries continue employment while raising funds, but pastoring makes this difficult. Fundraising requires speaking appointments on Sabbaths and visiting in the evenings—a pastor’s busiest times. We wanted to fundraise full-time to finish quickly, but this plan seemed unlikely to work. After much prayer, we felt we should move forward in faith. But how would this transition work? How could we manage without being employed?

That morning, Philip was wrestling in prayer about these things and seeking God’s will. He prayed for confirmation that we weren’t stepping out in presumption, but that God was directing our steps.
That same morning as I was having my devotions, I opened my Bible to verse after verse that all said the same thing. I hadn’t realized how many verses talked about this topic! I must have inadvertently turned to just about every one of them! They were all about leaving houses and land for Jesus’ sake and taking up our cross to following Him. I became more amazed as I turned to each passage. “Lord, are You trying to tell me something?” I had the distinct impression that we would be leaving our home soon.

I was still finishing devotions when our landlord came over. Through an open window, I could hear him talking with Philip. He said he was selling the house. For Philip, this was confirmation that God was leading. For me, it was confirmation that we would indeed be moving soon! Things happened quickly after that. The first auction sold the house, and we had to be out by November 2. Looking back, we can see how this was God’s perfect plan. We sold and got rid of most of our stuff and then moved into a friend’s travel trailer. The money we earned from sales and saved on rent made it possible for us to make the transition. “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose” (Rom. 8:28).

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