Sydney Here We Come

Within a few days of the Maori camp we were on our way to Australia. We arrived in Sydney again with total dependence on the Lord’s provision. Within a short time we found an apartment to rent, on the North Shore. I went to the car yard at Parramatta and found an old Holden in good condition for $300. I went to the owner of the yard - told him I was a missionary, needed a car, could he trust me to pay him within 30 days. He said "yes" (a miracle!) (The Lord provided within the 30 days and I kept my word). Next to our apartment was a petrol station so I opened an account.

We now had an apartment, a car and gas but virtually no food. We had just enough to eat for that day and breakfast for the children in the morning and then the cupboards were bare. I was now mobile so I set out to look for work. I had always found it easy to get work in sales but for some reason, try as I might, I couldn't find anything. While I was out I bumped into some old friends, a pastor and his wife, and invited them for lunch the next day. When I came back that evening, still no work, and told Bunty about inviting folk for lunch, her immediate reaction, thinking of our bare cupboards, was...

“What are we going to feed them?”

We gathered together with the children and prayed, thanking the Lord for His provision for our needs.

The next morning, as the children were waking, hearing a sound at the front door, Bunty opened it. No one was there, but on our front door step was a large box. She picked it up, took it inside and putting it on the table opened it. It was full of oranges, apples, bananas, pineapple, pears, kiwi fruit...every kind of fruit. She excitedly called the children and me.

“Look what the Lord has provided” she called.

We had told no one of our need. I knocked on the doors all around to see if it had been put on our doorstep by mistake, but no one claimed it. To this day we don’t know who put the box there. But it was definitely an answer from the Lord. Bunty prepared the fruit decoratively and when our guests arrived at lunch time said to them...

“I hope you don’t mind, but we are having a fruit lunch today.”

“We don’t mind at all” was their reply. “We love fruit”.

The Lord continued to supply. After a few months I said to Bunty...

“Let’s go look for a house.”

A real estate agent drove us around to look at possible buys. Bunty whispered to me in the back of the car...

“I wonder what he would think if he knew we had nothing in the bank and only 20c in our pocket?”

We found the ideal house, went back to the apartment, and prayed that the Lord would open some way for us to get it. We contacted a solicitor friend. He was able to organize a loan for both the deposit and the mortgage and within a few weeks we were in our own home.

Oh the adventures of a walk of faith! Over all the years in following the Lord we have found Him so faithful in meeting our needs as we have stepped out in obedience to Him. As He has promised to those who have given all for Him...

"...my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus" Philippians 4:19.