I ran over to the girl's room where Liana sleeps, because I heard her coughing to badly. She was sitting there, crying, while trying to catch her breath before another coughing spout hit. After watching this for about 20 minutes and seeing her get worse and worse, we decided to take her to the Emergency Room. It was Saturday night, and there wasn't really another option for us. It honestly was not an easy decision to take her in. Because we are currently on a student visa, that visit will cost us 345.75 AUD out of pocket, but, in the end, she and her well-being are so much more important than any amount of money.
I must admit though... when I was sitting there waiting with her in the ER, I felt a bit discouraged.
This December 2020, we are running a Christmas Cookie fundraiser. Over the last months, we accumulated a minus of about 5,000 AUD, which was largely due to Liana's medical fees and an enquiry with our visa lawyer on the possibility of us getting Permanent Residency in Australia with a child that has a medical condition. The fundraiser had gone so well until that point and then having such a set-back with more fees was disheartening. I talked to God about it, and in my heart there, in the waiting room, shared my concerns and fears with Him. He gave me a sense of peace, assuring me that He knew and would look after us.
Yesterday, the day after we went to the ER, we got a phone call from a precious person who had heard about our fundraiser through someone else. She asked many questions as to why we were in debt and our finances in general, which I really appreciated. At the end of the conversation, she said that she would like to cover one of our bills, so I explained how she could transfer finances to our account with YWAM Perth. I didn't know what to expect but was just so grateful for her kind heart and willingness. A few minutes later she sent a message that she had transferred 5,000 dollars into our account!! Blown away would be an understatement. Acksios and I looked at the message and were just speechless. This covered all the finances that we needed to raise!
This morning, I kept getting more messages with orders and even one saying that there was another person who felt led to donate finances to us. I was a bit confused - wasn't everything paid already? Why is God still prompting people to give more? As I was asking God what that was for, He reminded me of this last weekend and our visit to the ER.
Looking at the situation in hindsight, I am just in awe of seeing God's tender care for our family, especially our children. I anticipated that a large amount of the money we had raised would now go to cover this new bill, but the reality is, that we have enough to pay off the debt, cover this new bill, plus a bit more to set aside for future bills!
We had hoped to raise about 1/10th of our current debt with this fundraiser, and once we knew what we had raised, we would create a specific plan how to pay off the rest. But God's plans were so far beyond that - He prompted people all over the world to give, many even using it to bless others. What a joy to be a part of that! And now we can start the new year with a clean slate and a bit of a buffer for future medical and visa fees. What a joy to serve this faithful God.
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