God uses Ebay! Who knew? He has again proved Himself as a creative, almighty and loving provider.
For years now, the darling little L100, 42” John Deere riding mower that was lovingly donated so long ago has recently needed to be fixed, and usually welded every single time that it needed to be used – which is a lot. It probably has more patched metal and welds on it now than it does original metal, and eats belts like crazy, but it has also done more than it was ever designed to do in its life. We cut over 5 acres of grass every 2 weeks all year long, and it has been doing that for more than 8 years.
Vann’s uncle Hobie Napier knew of our need for a new mower, and along with all of the other equipment that he either bought or found donors for, he had found us a 34” Gravely zero-turn mower and a little Snapper mower that due to space restrictions didn’t make the last shipment down. After Uncle Hobie went to be with the Lord, we knew that we had lost a huge supporter. A fellow missionary here once asked us if we knew where he could find an “Uncle Hobie” for their ministry! He was a champion for our cause down here. We may never find another person so passionate about helping in the way that he did. Remember though, it has always been God using Uncle Hobie as a willing vessel for HIS ministry for all of these years. It is so very easy to lose that focus.
Some of our supporters from New Union Church of Blairsville, GA who have been coming down to Peru these past few years to help, drove to Florida and picked up the little mowers along with a large generator that hadn’t made it in the shipment either, that was also lovingly donated by some precious saints. They hauled them up to Georgia in order try and "take up the mantle” and get these things to down here to the jungle. As our pressing need was a solution for our mowing problem, Vann’s idea was to sell the mowers and the generator in order to raise the money to buy a bigger mower, and maybe have some funds left over to help with shipping and customs. He posted them on Ebay and Craigslist. Vann had been dreaming about and praying for a 72” John Deere zero-turn mower to keep up this mission base, but the price tag on such a machine had always made it seem impossible.
After awhile, a guy named Don McIver from South Carolina contacted us through Ebay asking about the Gravely mower. He and Vann communicated back and forth a bit through Ebay’s site. Vann told him why we were selling the mower, and he wanted to know more about our mission and us, so we referred him to our website. Soon afterward we were communicating by phone. He told us that he and his wife are also followers of Christ who love to support missions, and they were wondering if we would be open to the possibility of a trade as a manner of support - our smaller Gravely for a used 72” John Deere zero-turn mower. (Long, amazed pause.) After praying together over the phone that God would show us both His direction, we were all excited about what God was doing! He had just used strangers who happened to be fellow saints to supply the very machine of our dreams - via Ebay! When Terry Tibbitts and Pastor Harrison went to make the trade for us, the sweet folks also donated a really nice Stihl brush cutter.
The next big thing was getting it here. An international import into Peru is a stressful, expensive and complicated process. The big generator and Snapper were sold for almost as much as we estimated for the shipping and customs costs for the new mower. Terry and Sheila Tibbitts also donated a tiller for our garden, and proceeded to crate everything up with the Pastor’s help. They then let us know that God had laid it on their hearts to pay for the shipping, and to consider that our Christmas present!
God has put together a wonderful team of folks, which includes many of you, who continue to amaze us in your passion to serve God by blessing the ministry here through your support.
Our God is the God of the impossible, and His hand is at work here in Petra mission base! He knows the time, effort and money that it takes to beat back the jungle and keep this base in working order year round. We stand in awe.
“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God.”
Philippians 4:6