Miracles Of Provision And Answers To Prayer

One of the ways that I know that God loves me is because He has very faithfully supplied my finances over the past 40 years.

Of course John Ch 3 v 16 shows me how much he loves me and it would be very good never to forget that. If you don't remember what that verse says let me remind you. "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him, should not perish but have eternal life." KJV

Jesus laid down His life for me and that is too wonderful to even express adequately in words but having saved me, one of the ways He continues to show His love for me is by supplying my finances. Over the past 40 years, He has done this very faithfully and often very dramatically.

Let me start out by saying that I have no visible means of support until a few months ago when I started to receive Government Children's money for Jemima and Shelly. This amounts to 300 Euro a month. It is a big help. From one very faithful supporter I get a steady 100 E a month making a grand total of 400 E about 500 US$ or 300£. This is in itself a God send and I am extremely thankful for it and it goes a long way toward paying my rent, electricity and gas heating.

The rest a further 1000 E has to be made up for by our daily forages out into the world witnessing our faith to the hurting world. This we do by giving out Gospel tracts and holy pictures promoting PRO CHOICE and Jesus and the Holy Family.

As I recount the following to you let me start by going back 44 years when I had just become a Christian in 1965 shortly after the death of the very famous Winston Churchill.

From the very start I was very convinced about my new found faith and it wasn't long until I gave up my worldly life and became a missionary taking my rather reluctant family with me. When all visible income disappeared from my regular job I learned very quickly to live by faith. I also learned the Truth of Malachi Ch 3 v 10

10 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in my house, and try me in this, saith the Lord: if I open not unto you the flood-gates of heaven, and pour you out a blessing even to abundance.

What little money that did come in I tithed and immediately gave 10% of it to the local Christian organization that I was working with at the time much to the dismay and worry of my first wife. Naturally she could not see the wisdom of giving away 10% when on paper there was no way of paying the bills and I do not blame her. I was given a gift, I have forgotten how much but the 10% was pretty big so the gift must have been very big like 1000£s and I gave 100£ to the Navigator missionary movement.

On the same morning that I made the secret transfer, I went up to London and found an anonymous envelope with my name on it on my old desk and inside were a huge bundle of brand new numbered consecutively 10£ notes. When I got home I greeted my surprised wife with holding this sum of money behind my back and then throwing it up in the air scattering it around the living room of our bungalow. Yes she was very surprised.

We then sold our house for a considerable sum and I was in two minds whether to give the 10% for that away but on the train I decided I would do just that at the first opportunity. God took me at my word and a rich young man phoned me to say that he had bought me a brand new much larger car which was duly delivered to the door. A bright red Ford Cortina Shooting break.

Selling our house is a story in itself. It was up for sale for many months and one day when I was getting rather impatient I cracked my Bible and got the verse out of the book of Numbers Ch 29 verse 1 when it says something about the first day of the seventh month. The 1st of July. Well at the very end of June our one and only buyer turned up and the contract was signed for the sale on the 1st of July.

I do not advocate cracking the Bible as the only way to hear from God but it sure works sometimes and this reminds me of a time when driving with a bunch of missionaries we broke down on the motorway. Those more mechanically minded started looking under the bonnet and I cracked my Bible from the back seat where I was crouched, and this is what I got my finger on Zechariah ch 5 verse 7 where it talks about a talent of lead being lifted up. Lead and electrical lead are spelt the same so I shouted out to the group of frustrated amateur mechanics, "Look for a disconnected lead!" Sure enough that was the problem and as they put the lifted up lead back on its connection, the motor roared into life. It gives me such pleasure to recount these tales and helps to build up my faith too and hopefully yours as well.

I soon joined a Christian sect that lived entirely by faith and I bless them for it. As faith seemed to be my gift, they soon put me to work on the most impossible projects. We called this kind of work "Provisioning."

During the time of Property prices being at an all time high, it was decided that we look for a house, a large house say 50 bedrooms, half way between London and Dover as a missionary training base to send Missionaries to the continent of Europe. The American leader had a dream which was written up as a letter called Dreams of England. The house was described in great detail and I was sent out with a brother in a small Mini Minor car to look for this free house. The leadership drew a circle on a map in the area of Maidstone and surroundings and off we went very early in the morning. It was ridiculous if you think about it and when you are on a faith mission it is important not to think about it too much as it will destroy any faith that has been mustered up.

We arrived at Maidstone city hall at about 7.30 am long before the staff had arrived. We did however meet a very nice young guy who was responsible for making the tea. We had tea and asked him our ridiculous question. He did not seem too taken aback and said to try in another town hall at a smaller place called Hollingbourne.

So off we set and arrived again before opening time and met another tea boy who told us about an old Manor house and so off we set to look for it. When we arrived at the spot, we found a derelict house with no roof and the garden growing inside the walls as well as out side. It was obvious that even with the expertise of my American brothers and all the experience they had gained in starting this movement in the late sixties in the USA that it was a non starter.

Gidel and I spent a very frustrating next five or six hours discovering just how difficult and impossible this job was.

At about 3.30 we pulled into a Vicarage, the house of an Anglican priest. Once again we had tea. In England they seem to live on tea and we told him our story. He thought for a moment and asked if we had tried Hollingbourne Manor? I explained that we had and it was in an impossible state of disrepair. "Oh! No!" he exclaimed. "Look deeper into that area just behind the derelict house." We thanked him profusely and did not finish our tea and scones and ran quickly to the car.

Soon we were standing outside a red bricked Elizabethan Mansion called Hollingbourne Manor. I just googled this place and it is for real. Check it out. In 1971/2 it was divided into flats but on the day we arrived we found out that the occupants had been asked to leave on the following Monday as a Property dealer was going to redesign and renovate it and the considerable grounds and out houses that surrounded the building.

We found out the name of the Estate Agents and managed to squeeze into their office before closing time. We told them our story and they looked at us as if we were mad and told us we were wasting their time with such a request. They refused to give us the name of the Property dealer. We motored back to Hollingbourne village and started knocking on doors to find out the owner's name but to no avail. They all seemed sworn to secrecy.

Then we found a little old lady who had a small cottage which shared a common wall with the estate. She explained that she was very new there only living there 7 years which seemed comical to us. She happily gave us the name of a Mr Charlaton from the North of England and with this info we motored back to Bromley Factory owned by Mr Frampton where we were all living about 40 of us in sleeping bags on the floor of this disused factory.

It was late evening about 9 when we got back and then the real miracle took place. I phoned Mr Charlaton at his home and he was very surprised to hear from me with such a request. At the end he flatly turned me down. I was asking if we could use the property for the time that it would take from now until the development would start which often took months and years. The rest of the Christian Commune were on their knees desperately praying so I let him have my parting shot. "Sir! Jesus has need of this house for a short time." There was silence and then he told us to meet him at his fashionable Mayfair Office the following Tuesday. The rest is History.

We used the place for nearly 2 years training many faith missionaries and took great care of it and the garden. We made good friends with all the neighbours and handed back the keys to an agent who landed by helicopter in the garden at the end of our tenure.

To be continued... THERE IS MUCH MUCH MORE TAKING US UP TO THE PRESENT TIME. SO WAIT FOR THE NEXT INSTALLMENT.

PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK OF THIS. I WOULD LIKE TO PUBLISH THESE SHORT TRUE STORIES AND EARN A LITTLE BREAD FROM THEM. ANY IDEAS? WOULD BE VERY WELCOME!