No money for missions seems like heaven's requirement for miracles.

“EVEN THOUGH YOU DON’T HAVE ANY MONEY, YOU CAN GO”

One of the names of God is Yahweh-Yireh which means “the Lord will provide.” And He does! Hebrew people still use the proverb, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.” We can still trust Him today because He will always provide for His children. He is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. I remember what He has done for me in my past and project that onto my present situation. He is good. I can trust Him. You can trust Him, too. God provides for us in many wonderful ways.

Sister Vernadette “Vadeth” Lepardo, one of the IT missionaries, has also experienced how God met her needs when she was in the mission field. It all happened when she accepted God’s call in her life to be a missionary. After she graduated from the Bible School, she immediately became a part of the church planting ministry. She has been doing it for more than ten years. Then one day, when she was in Tarlac, she heard preachings about missions and that’s when she felt that small yet powerful spark in her heart for missions. While she was in Baguio City, she came across a mission organization on short-term trips to Asian countries and she would like to be a part of it. She joined the conference and learned more about the global mission; hence she became more passionate about pursuing it. However, her team leader disagreed with the idea. Sis Vadeth prayed and fasted and came up with a decision to resign from her position as a church planter to pursue missions. No bridges were burned, and she and her colleagues in the church planting ministry were on good terms for they honored her decision in responding to God’s calling in her life.

As Sis Vadeth returned to Tagaytay, she met a friend who introduced her to International Team Philippines, a mission sending organization. She attended the Access 1 Training and soon after that she signed up for the cross-cultural mission trip to South Korea. She had the money when she went to South Korea, and she went with no problems at all. Soon after that, the Lord revealed Himself to her when she had no resources but faith.

ITeams Philippines had an International Conference in Macau and Sis Vadeth wanted to join. However, she had no money at that time. She felt so little, and it was very difficult for her to decide whether she should go or not. Not only in Macau, but she also wanted to get a Chinese visa so she could go to mainland China, given the opportunity if she could go. She prayed to God, and He spoke “Even though you don’t have any money, you can go” tears rolled down her cheeks as she heard it. Others had no idea that she had no money, however, God hears her prayers. A friend called her, “Vadeth, I’ll drop by, and we can go together to the Chinese Embassy”. It was a quick response to her prayer! For the entire week, she was accompanied by her friend, and she didn’t have to spend a lot of money while she was processing the documents for her Chinese visa. She successfully got her visa, booked her flight and she went to Macau first to attend the conference.

After Macau, she and the other missionaries went to mainland China and visited some teams there. Next on their itinerary is to go to Hong Kong. Sis Vadeth was asked to lead the group of missionaries who were with her. She sought God’s help, “Lord, please give me the wisdom to lead the group”. She felt incompetent to lead the group for she knew that only a few Chinese people could speak English and she also couldn’t speak Mandarin and it was her first time in China. But as she sought the Lord’s help, the Holy Spirit came to her aid. She was able to guide them and arrived safely in Hong Kong. Sis Vadeth doesn’t have enough money left, and so as the other missionaries. Fortunately, a friend of hers booked a room for her in advance.

However, since the others weren’t able to book their hotel accommodation and had no money left, Sis Vadeth suggested that the five of them would stay in her room. Although, she was unsure whether the hotel's management would allow having more than one person to stay in a single room booked for one guest. As they arrived at the place of accommodation, she saw that an owner is an Indian man and they felt intimidated. Then, a lovely Filipina approached them who is the wife of the owner. She mentioned that the guest before them who checked out left a fridge full of food. The wife of the owner insisted that they eat the food because it would be a pity if it gets bad. The truth is since they don’t have enough money left it was truly a great blessing for all of them. During their three-day stay in Hong Kong, they didn’t have to worry about their food because the wife of the owner was very accommodating and had given them a lot of food. Sis Vadeth met two of her friends from the Bible School who are church planters in Hong Kong. Her friends toured them around Hong Kong and treated them to fancy restaurants.

It was truly a one-of-a-kind experience because despite their lack of money they have been to places they never imagined they could go to. Sis Vadeth went back to the Philippines with her heart full of gratitude to the Lord. She never felt nor experienced something like that in her life. “His promise in Philippians 4:19 is really true” Sis Vadeth recalled everything that has happened with praise and thanksgiving to the Most Almighty High!

God provides for everything we need as the creator of our life! Therefore, have faith that God will provide what is best for you. Give thanks for all you have to the Lord and trust Him. Whenever you may doubt the provision of God, rely on the Bible to encourage your faith, and relieve anxiety. Trust in God’s never-changing character!

2 Peter 1:3

His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.

(Written by: Venus Jablo)