A few weekends ago I was in Atlanta partnering with a local Indian church for the weekend, staying with a family, and taking part in some ministry down there. It was a great weekend and you can read more about it in my previous blog. This one starts however about 5 miles from returning home.
As we closed in on home, my car started making some odd noises every time I turned. We made it without incident, unloaded, and put our feet up for a bit. Later on I went back out so I could run some errands. I started the car up, and before even moving a foot or two, I knew the power steering was gone. I checked underneath and sure enough I had a pretty good leak going.
Fast forward a few days and through a few adventures in actually locating the little tank for power steering fluid, and I've finally got my car in to be fixed. A few other people at CGA, have gone to this garage (Small Town Garage) for oil changes and what not. Since it was right down the road a few miles and on the way to work, it only made sense to drop my car of there too.
So I get there, fill out the paperwork, and then sit down to wait to be picked up by a friend. During those few minutes though, something pretty special happened. The owner went out to look at the car and then came back in and struck up a brief conversation. Something like this.
Owner – "Where are you from?"
Me – "Ohio. I just recently got down here to Georgia."
Owner – "Are you with that mission organization?"
Me – "Yep. I'm working with them down here for the next year."
Owner – "Do you get paid to do this?"
Me – "No. I fundraise the money needed to cover basic expenses like food, gas, and so on."
Owner – "I see."
A few minutes pass and the owner is back in the office area.
Owner – "What's the name of the organization again?"
Me – "Adventures in Missions."
Walks back over to me.
Owner – "Can you take a check?"
Me (a little dumbfound/caught off guard) – "Uh, yeah. We can put checks into our account."
He then procedes to hand me a check.
To say I was surprised would be an understatement. I'm not really sure, why but I was. Maybe because up until 10 minutes prior, he didn't know me from Joe Schmo. Maybe because while that sort of unexpected generousity from strangers on the World Race happened regularly, experiencing that in States all that often is another story.
That's the amazing God that we serve though isn't it? It doesn't just stop with me though because this one blessing carries on into the work being done in the office and then all the way down to everyone acting as the hands and feet of Christ in the field. The immediate blessing may have been mine, but the impact, no matter how minor it may seem, is going to stretch world wide.
The video below isn't directly related, but I've been obsessed with it lately so here it is. We got to play with some of these kids a couple of times when we were in Haiti. So if you're looking for a little extra smile, please watch it!
