Pastor Alex and his wife Carol work in Buenos Aires. It's a small church that has a heart for its community and is working to reach them. Becky and I are very impressed with Alex and Carol. They are a couple that lives by faith, constantly looking to the needs of others when they have big needs themselves. With that background...
In June we attended a meeting with the leadership of the church in Buenos Aires. At the meeting, the church leaders shared that Alex and Carol were in a very difficult situation. Alex has been the pastor for the last three years and for income he started a butcher business. His business did well and he was able to buy a car and then eventually a house. At some point, Alex injured his back butchering cattle and hogs. With time, he hurt it again and again. And just a few days earlier, Alex had been told by a doctor that if he doesn't stop working, he will end up in a wheelchair. The doctor gave strict instructions. Alex would not be able to work for one to two years. He is not able to ride on a motorcycle. He cannot drive. He cannot lift. And Alex needs to follow doctors orders if he is to get better. Further, he was prescribed a course of medications and physical therapy.
This news was shocking. It meant that Alex could no longer continue his business. It meant that he would no longer be able to make payments on his house and car. Obvious questions came to mind - How will he survive? How will he provide food for his family? The leadership asked us to pray and asked if we could help.
The next day, we returned to meet with Alex and find out some specifics of the situation. I wanted to know, how much debt is owed on the house and car? I wanted to find the best way to help Alex. As we met with Alex and Carol and offered some solutions, they asked us to pray. This is where I started to learn some lessons.
Lesson 1 - While my natural reaction was to use money to fix the problem, it should have been to go to God and ask God to fix the problem.
At one point, we offered to pay off the debt of the house and Carol responded, we don't feel that that is what God wants to do here and we want to wait and see how God will act in our situation.
Lesson 2 - Wait on the Lord and He will tell you what to do.
I wanted to call churches and of course ask them to pray but inwardly I wondered if we could raise the money to cover the house so that it wasn't lost. Alex and Carol taught me to be still and wait on the Lord. When I asked them what they would like me to tell the American churches, they said "Just ask them to pray and do what God tells them to do." I responded "Ok, but do you want me to ask them for money?" And they responded "Just ask them to pray and do what God tells them to do."
Lesson 3 - Yes, God is with us. He is with us when things appear to go well and when things appear to not go well. And He is to be praised because of who He is, not because of our feelings and circumstances.
I was freshly reminded of this lesson, this past week when the following happened -
On Monday I visited Carol in the morning and she shared with joy that Alex was doing much better. Praise the Lord!!! God is so Good!!! On Tuesday Alex called saying that Monday afternoon Carol fell and broke her arm. Praise the Lord!?! God is so Good!?!
It's kind of hard to praise the Lord for the hard things that come our way, isn't it? But God doesn't become good or bad, worthy or not worthy of praise based on our day. And so yes, in both situations, Praise the Lord!!! God is Good!!!
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The story continues and there's much to tell but in summary -
Alex and Carol returned their car to the bank that loaned them the money. God sold their house. They gave away the butcher business to a friend since they couldn't continue it. They started selling clothes and shoes from their home. The church and local believers (including us) have been praying and as God leads, we have been bringing things to them to sell.
We, as North American's, are careful about how we give. We realize that the resources we could draw upon (this includes you) could cover the needs and would quickly rob the local church and believers of their responsibility and privilege to help their pastor. We need to be very wise.
Alex and Carol started writing down stories of God in their life. I saw the book a few days ago and asked if I can make some copies of it to share with you. This will take some time but be watching for it!
Please keep Alex and Carol in hour prayers. They are amazing people of faith. Pray for the church as they continue to support Alex and Carol as well as reach out into the Buenos Aires and villages close by.
Praise the Lord.
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