In Matthew 6:8, when giving instruction on how to pray, Jesus tells his followers that "your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask Him!" It's a good thing, because I would have NEVER thought to ask for this! Read on to see what I mean.
More than two years ago, ECM organized and sent a shipping container to Uganda. Although we were able to send a lot of very important items, the cost was also quite high, and from a strictly business perspective, it didn't really make much sense. In fact, I vowed never to do it again! But just last week, a story from one of our staff members in Uganda reminded me of how God is always up to something good. The mother of one of our sponsored children had been sick for some time, and was actually quite close to death. She was losing her sight, and no one expected her to survive. Suspecting that she was sick with AIDS, our staff member began to pray about how she could help. She remembered a book called "All Your Health Questions Answered Naturally" and began reading the chapter on HIV/AIDS. She rushed back to the hospital with the "secret remedy": raw food and plenty of water. Like the command God gave to Namaan to bathe in the Jordan seven times to be cured of leprosy, the remedy seemed ridiculously simple. Yet, they tried it. At first it was a struggle just to open her mouth and help her eat a little. They did this throughout the night, and for the next couple days. Soon she started gaining strength and speaking, then sitting up in bed. Within a week she was discharged from the hospital. Had she been cured of HIV/AIDS? No, but she had been given a new lease on life, and more time with her daughter. Given her prior condition, it was a remarkable turnaround.
The fact that our staff member had the book was also remarkable. Amongst thousands of books shipped on that container, sandwiched between tables and desks, socks and coats, and enough school supplies to last a few years, was a book about healthy eating that somehow made it into the hands of this particular staff member, who remembered its existence at just the right time.
So, the truth is, it wasn't really the shipping container that saved that woman's life, but you probably knew that already. No, it was the God who knew exactly what would be needed, well in advance, and who pre-ordained that an obscure health book would be donated to a church which would in turn donate it to ECM, which would send it on a very expensive shipping container all the way to Uganda, where it would be used to save a life. I don't know about you, but I think that's pretty cool!
If you'd like to be a part of the cool things that God is doing through ECM, please visit our website. We are always looking for new partners to join with us!
