Oh, That's Why We're Here

Crooked House - Lavenham

Part 1 - Position Available
Part 2 - The Year was 1999
Part 3 - Red Dirt or Green Grass
Part 4 - Preparations and Going the UK
Part 5 - But I's Dark and it's only 4.30pm!
Part 6 - Laying Out the Fleece

So far I've described a few of the amazing things that the Lord did once we got to the UK but wait there's more! On the first weekend of our time in Wetheringsett we needed to find a church to attend so we turned to the nearest person to us in the prayer meeting that morning and asked if he could give us a lift to one. Mike was the guy who was asked and Mike said 'yes, no worries' and told us he and his wife (Sue who worked at the SIM UK office also) went to a little church nearby called Framsden Baptist. So, the next Sunday Mike and Sue and thier two lovely girls picked us up from Wetheringsett stables and off we choofed to church.

There is no such thing as a coincidence. God is ALWAYS in control. How do I know this? When we arrived at Framsden Baptist we found out that the Pastor's daughter had just returned from 6 months in Niger, at Sahel Academy and that they were currently supporting a teacher who was there. Sahel Academy is a very small school. It's in the middle of nowhere and not many people have heard of it. We never did look for another church, this was the one we were meant to be at.

Framsden Baptist Church

Within a few weeks the Lord also provided us a car through Mike and Sue. They also lived in Debenham only one street away and became very good friends of ours.

Before moving on to arriving in Niger in our next post I need to list some of the other amazing things that the Lord did while we were in the UK.

Firstly, he provided me with a job at the SIM UK Wetheringsett office. I worked in all except one department in the four months I was there. This was also paid work which 'knocked our socks off!'. Secondly several people within Framsden chose to support us financially for our time in Niger. One of those couples are now our supporters in our role here in Australia! Thirdly, the Lord provided all the funds we needed for our time in Niger while we were in the UK, all through people we met there, including an ex-Niger missionary from Canada (elderly lady, if you are reading this and familiar with Niger SIM history you'll probably work out who I mean).

Finally, previous to going to the UK we were very involved in our church. We were involved in leading Boys and Girls Brigade, leading Youth Group, leading a Bible Study, the church netball team and Michael was preaching and leading regularly. We were also both working full time and Michael's job called for a 24 hour after hours service. By the time we got to England we were worn out. By the time we left for Niger we were revitalised as the only ministry we were involved in in the UK was a bimonthly kid's program at our church (pic: Aussie night at the kids' program).

The Lord prepared us in ways we never could have imagined, he looked after us as he promised and he provided for us as he promised. Oh, and were we ready for the UK? No, we got culture shock there which always happens when you don't expect it!