MANNA: It was February 28, 1993...

It was February 28, 1993 when Josh and Jon were 4 and 2 years old.  

We had been on staff with Youth With A Mission (YWAM) since 1987 and had now been iving & working with the NY YWAM Center in Elizabeth, NJ since the fall of 1991.  We lived a couple miles from the Center in an apartment that cost $700 a month and our monthly support was $900, which covered rent and utilities and God provided faithfully for food and other needs over the next year and a half. 

We had been doing children’s ministry in the inner city projects of Elizabeth and felt we needed some training, so we looked into the Principles of Children & Youth Ministries training that YWAM offered in Scotland and had been asking God since Jan. for the provision to do so. 

Since deciding to go, our support came in very intermittently and that month we had received only $320 from our supporters. Though we had paid rent for Jan. and Feb. we were two months behind on utilities and obviously did not have rent for the next day. This was a huge test of our faith... and we were struggling. After putting the boys to bed we committed to pray into the night and we started with, ‘Lord, we don’t need less, we need more!” Our training school started  in 5 weeks on April 7th and in addition to rent and utilities, we needed to rent a moving truck and a storage unit and secure flights to Scotland in the next few weeks. So we prayed and prayed and read through a wonderful book called DARING TO LIVE ON THE EDGE: The Adventure of Faith and Finances by Loren Cunningham, in order to see if we were off in our plans in anyway. As we prayed and examined our hearts, Roger said he felt that there was an intentional veil so that we could not see ahead of is how things would work out much like Abraham. As he shared this, I had my finger on a verse that I wanted to read which said:

"His intention was the perfecting and the full equipping of the saints (His people) Eph. 4:11a

After that late night prayer time, we felt we were to continue to believe that God could and would provide for us to go.

The next day at the YWAM Center, the accountant said he was looking for us and I asked, "Why, did someone give us a $1000?" and he said, "No, but close"

As it turned out, our home church had incorrectly filled out February's monthly support check of $200 and it had to be sent back, so by rights if they resent that with the March support, it would have been $400, but the check was for $750!!!  We were overwhelmed and overjoyed! When I told the missions committee Director from our church about how that had met our needs so beautifully and asked why that was the amount sent, she said she had no idea.  

I wish I could go back and read in my journal all the details of how the 4 of us boarded that plane for Scotland at the end of March. What I do remember is that fellow missionaries from Brasil needed a car when they came home on furlough and felt led to offer to buy ours from us, so that covered the taxes we owed and the our airfare!! There is so much more to this story as we spent 6 months in Paisley Scotland... even a story about "Miracle NON-provision" that we could tell you about one day.  

So, here we sit on Wed. June 18th, 2014, asking God in much the same way... Is it your will that Jonathan go to this FARMING GOD'S WAY training in North Carolina on Sunday? We are trusting that if it is, then He will provide the remaining $ needed for his airfare and tuition, as He has so many times in the past and, if it is not in His plan, then He has another plan. 

Jon's first garden that he initiated when we lived in Nashua!

"Oh God, you are My God, and I will ever praise You,

I will seek You in the morning and I will learn to walk in Your ways and

Step by step you lead me and I will follow you all of my days." ~ Rich Mullins 

MANNA - Look to God alone!

I had to repost this testimony of God's hand in our lives… This has become a marker… a reminder of God's faithfulness and the reality that He sees and knows and is on the job!!

On Wed. Sept. 18th, two days before we had to take Jon to the airport on his second trip to South Sudan, we had two options to take Jon and his four duffle bags of donated items and one of personal belongings to the airport on Friday. Our van had died the month before and God had faithfully provided various options to get us wherever we needed to go and we had not missed a venturing out since we lost our van. Later that morning, I found out we could not use my sister's car b/c my mom's car was going into the shop for repair on  Friday.  Later on Wed., our friends who weekly left their car here for us to use Thursday thru Monday let us know they had to take their car back to Maine for the weekend. So I was simply going to let folks know via email, that we needed help getting Jon to the airport Friday morning, but I suddenly felt strongly that we should not share our need and just ask God. 

Later, Wed. evening, I was tempted to let folks know,  I even composed an email, but before I could push "send", I felt strongly that I should not send it, & to LOOK TO GOD ALONE! 

Thursday morning after Roger left for work and Jon and Em left for the last day of working at the organic farm, some one came to the door!……………… and it was Josh!!! 
(who is stationed about 6 hours away at Fort Drum)  I screamed and cried, and I could not believe my eyes!!! Then it took me about 10 minutes to realize that Josh was our ride to the airport!!! So while I was composing that email the night before, Josh was actually on his way to surprise us!!

Here is his story: 
On Tuesday, Josh realized that it was possible that he would not see Jon for at least 11 months and could be longer, since when Josh returns from Afghanistan, Jon could be spending months in Africa again. Since he had not put in for a pass a week ahead as required, he thought of getting off work as early as possible on Thursday, driving 6 hours home to spend a couple of hours here and driving back to report on Friday am. He pitched this to his sergeant who suggested he still try to put in for a pass. So they submitted it Tuesday night. Hopeful, Josh looked into getting a rental car in town, but there were none available! So he looked into an on base rental, but the cheapest was $400 and Josh only had $300 to his name, so he waited. On Wed. around noon, a friend told Josh that if he got a pass, he could use their car! Later Wed., he was at a platoon meeting and his sergeant was assigning him work for Thursday and Friday and he thought to himself, "I did not get the pass." The next thing he knows is that his sergeant is yelling at him, saying, "Lueken!!! Get out of here! Go home! I don't want to see your face!" Josh was stunned and wasn't sure what to think & his other sergeant said, "Do you want me to make you low crawl all the way to the parking lot?" So he ran out of there, gathered his things, got the vehicle and was off and on his way at the same time I was composing the email to let folks know we had a need of a ride.   He did not tell us he was coming as he wanted to surprise us, so he contacted my brother, Jeff, who lives next door. He arrived very late while we were in bed and stayed at their house till morning, when he wandered over to our house, giving me the shock of my life!

I said to Roger that a million dollars and a limousine ride would not be as great as having Josh with us and all going the airport together as a family!!  God is so good! and He sees and knows our need! Even when there is a simple human solution to meet our needs, waiting on Him first is far better!! I often need to recall this to mind as the children of Israel did.

"I remember the days of long ago; 

I meditate on all Your works and 

consider what Your hands have done." 

Psalm 143:5