Sometimes, we need to just be affirmed in our faith. We need assurance from God that we were correct to step out in faith. I know that I do, at least. The Bible says that we are to “be strong and courageous … for the Lord is with us wherever we go” (Joshua 1:9). He asks us to be bold and trust that He will provide. So that’s what I did, I went against the majority. I chose the uncomfortable and the least finalized plan. I had faith, trusted Him, and OH DID HE AFFIRM ME.
We moved from Tirana to Vlorë when He said and He showed up there. We knew that our time in Vlorë was finished. We’d met our Unsung Heroes future ministry partners, made friendships that turned into family, and knew that we were needed back in Tirana to eventually meet up with the rest of the squad to travel together to Romania. We had one last person to meet in the city of Berat. The question was whether we were willing to get up at 5 am to travel to this new city to meet an Unsung Hero that had not yet responded to our email without having a place to stay.
Bussing to Berat was definitely not the easy or comfortable option. We knew we had a place to stay in Tirana and wouldn’t have to wake up so early to get there, but that was not true for Berat. It was midnight and we had to make a decision. We reminded ourselves that we asked God for the uncomfortable and that at the very least we could stay in a hostel for a night even though it would be over budget.
I then suggested that we stop worrying about where we would stay and trust that God would provide free accommodations. (Please note: This is extremely uncharacteristic of me.)
My team just kind of looked at me and was like “Okay, so let’s go then.” (To myself, “Oh snap, well this better all work out!”) We then said goodnight and went back to our room to pack up our backpacks. We woke up a couple of hours later to get on the bus and begin our journey. I fell asleep. I woke up about two hours later to some commotion as the bus was stopped, which meant it was time to get off. Truly a God moment, wifi was suddenly available at this random bus stop and Kirsti immediately checked her email. She found that the ministry partner had literally just responded with a phone number for us to call when we arrived and let us know they had a place for us to stay for free.
Okay, yeah perfect timing Lord. THANK GOD!
So, we called them and they told a taxi driver where to take us. The pastor of the church and his wife then showed up about five minutes later and let us know we would talk later, but we could drop off our stuff at the apartment and sleep until the evening church service. We walked up the five flights of stairs and I heard the pastor’s wife explain that if we couldn’t all fit inside then we were more than welcome to sleep on the balcony.
No worries. We just needed a place to stay. Outside would be great.
I was the last one up the stairs (five flights carrying two backpacks kicked my butt, literally) and walked in the front door of the “penthouse” apartment of an American missionary couple currently on sabbatical. I LITERALLY FREAKED OUT. We stayed in a two bedroom / two bathroom apartment with air conditioning and a kitchen. Not only was it just gorgeous and huge, it felt so familiar and welcoming. An American family lives there, so we recognized all of the similar comforts of home. The balcony wraps around the apartment and has a 360-degree view of the city. It’ so large that my entire squad of 55 could camp out comfortably. Katherine and I shared the master suite and enjoyed our comfortable bed with our own AC unit. Yeah, it was legit.
God is so good like that. Not only did He affirm and reward my faith, He far exceeded any expectations that I had. He delights in giving us the desires of our hearts and knows what we need and when we need it. Our time with the ministry partners was incredible, we knew it would be, but this little surprise was far beyond knowing my Heavenly Father was present in yet another new city.
