When we decided to return to Malawi, we bought our tickets believing that the Lord would order our steps as it says in Proverbs, "A man's heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps" and "In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." We believe that when God calls, He will also provide.
We contacted our dear friend Jodi McGill who was a huge help in getting settled in Mzuzu when we moved there in 2006. She was in the middle of getting her family ready for a yearlong furlough in the states but still agreed to help us find a house to stay in for 2 months. Since there are 8 of us going, we can't just stay in an extra bedroom. As a minimum, we needed a house with enough beds for us to sleep in or at least share. After much searching, Jodi found a Malawian woman who would move out of her house and let us rent her house for our time there. It was small but we should be able to all squeeze in. Before Jodi left Malawi, she confirmed that all was settled. I also emailed the woman and was assured that all was in order for us.
In addition to a house, we wanted to rent a car which Jodi also was able to find for us. We had been unable to communicate via email with the man who was going to rent us his car so we asked Augustine, who helps run the nursery, to contact him for us. He found that the car deal as in order and just as we had agreed. Augustine then asked if he could look into our rental house for us. We thought it would be nice to know if we would have enough beds, blankets, etc. so we told him to go ahead and contact the woman. The next day he told us that there was no house. They had been told that Jodi had found another house and we didn't need theirs. There was much confusion about what had really transpired. Regardless of what was communicated or not, we have no house to stay in at this time. Andy jokes that we should just throw in a tent and some sleeping bags and we'll be set. The rest of us don't see the humor in it.
Thankfully, dear Augustine is now looking into finding something for us. Mzuzu has a housing shortage as it is the fastest growing city in Malawi so finding a house is no easy task. Since God is on our side we are confident that we will find a place to stay. We still have 2 ½ weeks until we leave and then another week until we will be in Mzuzu so this is far from a crisis even though some days it feels like it. God has proven himself faithful time and time again and He alone is trustworthy.
As we were talking over our predicament, we were reminded of how the Lord provided a place for us to stay after our two robberies. Our house was being fixed after being broken into and in both situations he provided for our needs. This is another opportunity to see God work miraculously in our lives and how good is that?
Please keep Augustine and his house search in your prayers as God works mightily when we pray.
"Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD."
"I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust."
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