He never stops working...

I wanted to post this (with permission) because I think it is important that everyone knows how amazing God is. His works are incredible. This is an email from my very dear friends in spain. Troy and Heather Cady are the team leaders and pastors of the church, Oasis Madrid. They have two beautiful kids, Meg and Nic. Here is their story.

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In the words of Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all doing direct the other way..."

You might want to get a drink, a box of Kleenex and get comfy, because this is an epic story!

On Tuesday October 17, we received a call from CAI to let us know that we absolutely had to have our account out of deficit by year's end. Many of our colleagues are, as we were, suffering financially, and CAI is not able to "float" all of us when that happens. We of course had already been working on fund-raising, but this put an extra amount of pressure on us. At that point, we believed we were about $8,000 in the hole.

It was a rainy, grey week, and our spirits took a real nose-dive. On Friday the 20th, we met with Nic's teacher and another woman who provides assistance to kids at the school. They expressed concern that Nicolas (who is definitely behind, having jumped into the British school system this year) might have some kind of learning delay or issue. Although on its own, this news was not terrible, added to the burdens of the week, it became the straw that broke the camel's back.

I think that Friday was the worst day we have experienced in Spain. As the rain poured down outside, we struggled and grieved. We cried a lot of tears. We talked about leaving Spain, even if the money came in.

On Saturday, we sent out an email asking that you join us in prayer on Sunday October 22nd. We really did not know what God was doing, where He was leading. That evening, we had a service. At the end of the service, they kicked Troy & I out and voted to give us a generous financial gift from the church. Afterwards they sat us down, gathered around us, prayed for us and cried with us. We went home feeling more peaceful and encouraged, but still wondering what God was going to do. We asked our kids some loaded questions about where we should live. Among other things, Meg said "I think it's important to live in Spain to tell people about God."

Emails began pouring in, speaking words of encouragement to us. People were praying with us.We were certainly not alone. That Sunday we spent as a family, talking and praying and asking God to show us what to do. We asked God only that He would get our account back in the black by the end of the year. We made the difficult decision that if it was not in the black by then, we would leave Spain at the end of the school year.

Then the financial commitments starting coming in. Some of them before we even asked; some of them after. All of them generous, one huge one from a man we have never even met before. Part-way through the process we found out that we were actually $12,000 in the hole after having paid for school this fall. Still, the emails kept coming.

As I write this, (between actual gifts and pledges) God has provided funds to wipe our deficit, pay for the next school payment in January, and begin to build up our required 2-month financial buffer. He has also sent $350 per month in new monthly support.

Needless to say, we are staying in Spain! God answered clearly, quickly and with overwhelming generosity. It's amazing. The difference in our emotional states has been remarkable. I think both Troy and I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off our shoulders.
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Amen.