3 of 14: Booster's Lit...

PETER/ABRAHAM (Rocket Boosters Lit)

Email from April 2009 from S.D.

“Have you heard about George Muller from Bristol, England, in the1800’s?”

Email from July 2009 from J.B.

“Have you guys ever read about George Mueller? When you mentioned God doing this thing in a way that brings Him great glory, it made me think of George and the way the Lord used him to bring about a revival of sorts in the hearts of those who claimed to believe in the Lord but really didn't have any kind of faith. If you haven't read any of his work, I would love to mail you a book!”

Email sent by us on 07/08/09

“Monday evening we had a 3 1/2-hour prayer session with another couple who does a lot of intercessory prayer, fervently seeking a word from God as to whether He wants us to go to Italy SOONER or LATER, and if sooner then what the hold-up is. The Word from God for me was "Go", and the Word from God for Randall was "Go", and the vision that the other guy got from God was of an old-fashioned rocket with 12 boosters... and two of the boosters were lit.

“ So what's keeping you from going?" We replied that we've only received 18% of our needed support, and Rick's response was "How do you know God doesn’t want you to go on 18%?" Immediately i thought of George Mueller, and how maybe God has a different amount in mind for us, not the amount we had come up with. Instead of waiting for 75-100% funding to come in and the visas to come through BEFORE we get the plane tickets, we are doing it the other way.

That's the basic, shortened review of the prayer session. We have decided to go forward with our plans to move, and so Randall promptly went to the post office yesterday and sent off for his passport renewal, which he'll need for our visa application. We are tentatively planning to go to Houston the last week of July to apply for our visas, and we are tentatively planning to be on a plane to Italy in September or early October. We are TOTALLY stepping out of the boat here, not onto the shore, but onto the water, trusting that Jesus will hold us up. I imagine some will throw their hands up in total disgust and proclaim that we have officially lost all semblance of sanity. But i have firmly believed for a long time that when this all finally comes to fruition, God is going to do it in such a huge way that there will be no doubt in anyone's mind that it was HIM, ALL HIM. And so we are diving in, expecting HUGE things from God, because HE has told us to GO!

Our thoughts and faith are now summed up in these lyrics by Steven Curtis Chapman:

I'm diving in

I'm going deep

In over my head I wanna be

Caught in the rush

Lost in the flow

In over my head I wanna go

The river's deep

The river's wide

The river's water is alive

So sink or swim

I'm diving in”

God has made it abundantly clear to us, through many confirmations, that He wanted us to go to Italy. Now He also made it abundantly clear that He wanted us to trust FULLY in Him, in every way, including with our finances. When we had that pivotal prayer session with Rick & Cindy on July 7, we had been stuck at 18% for forever, it seems. When Rick asked why being stuck at 18% was keeping us from going when God had made it so abundantly clear that HE was ready for us to go, the light bulb came on in my head and i just knew, Randall & i both knew, that we were being called to trust God for the rest of it. I know this part is information we've already told you before, but it's pivotal to understanding what my expectations were and why i fell so apart when they didn't materialize. So hold onto this thought for a little bit, i'll come back to it...

Between July 8 when we officially decided to take the plunge and the middle of October when we'd been in Italy for 3 weeks, we had unprecedented financial provision.