Italian Souls for Christ

When God put it into the heart of George Muller to start an orphanage in Bristol England in the 1800s, he had only two shillings (50 cents) in his pocket. Without making his wants known to any man, but to God alone, nearly a million and a half pounds ($7,000,000) was sent to him for the building and maintenance of five orphanages in his lifetime. George Muller became famous as one of the greatest men of prayer known to history. He fed and cared for orphans for over 60 years. In all that time the children did not have to go without a meal and Mr. Muller said that if they ever had to go without a meal he would take it as evidence that the Lord did not will the work to continue. Sometimes the meal time was almost at hand and they did not know where the food would come from, but the Lord always sent it in due time.

Mr. Muller records in his autobiography that “God began to show me that his word alone is our standard of judgment in spiritual things; that it can be explained only by the Holy Spirit; and that in our day, as well as in former times, he is the teacher of his people… The office of the Holy Spirit I had not experimentally understood before that time.”

As we read as a family the story of George Muller earlier this summer I was impressed with how he was led by the Spirit of God. He never tried to force God’s hand but rather evaluated circumstances in the light of the Bible and always through a spirit of prayer. One incidence in his life in particular stuck with me, I only wished I would have followed his example…

When Mr. Muller saw the need of expanding the orphanage he began to look for another property that would sit just outside the city of Bristol. He surveyed the area and found what he thought to be the perfect spot. He had spent much time in prayer and was impressed to pay only a certain sum. He made his offer for the property and found that the owner wanted a significantly higher amount than what Mr. Muller was willing to pay. As much as Mr. Muller wanted that particular piece of land he knew in his heart how much the Lord impressed him to offer. He understood the substantially higher sum that was required to buy the property to be a closed door from the Lord. Instead of forcing the issue, Mr. Muller continued to pray for the Lord to provide at that specific sum of money. I believe it was within a week or so that Mr. Muller discovered a piece of land that was even more ideally suited for the orphanages, and for the value he was willing to pay.

For months I had prayed for a travel trailer to use on deputation as well as to be used in the future on furlough. I had reasoned that a trailer would provide us some sense of stability on the road – a place to call our own. It would make home schooling easier as well as provide us with some privacy as a family. I knew it wouldn’t be an ideal living condition but I thought it would be better than staying in some creepy church basement, musty smelling prophet chamber, pet friendly motel, or some other unknown situation that most missionaries dread. I thought a trailer was our only option as a family and I prayed fervently towards receiving one – the only problem was I did not pray whether or not we should receive one in the first place.

I should have learned from George Muller. I should have asked myself if the Lord was even in us owning a trailer since He did not provide it as we prayed. I should not have forced the issue; I should have been more sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit. Instead, as we entered July and the time we would be heading out from our home base in Dayton to other areas of the country, I bought a trailer. It has turned out to be an expensive mistake – mainly because we can’t even use it.

We bought a new trailer. The payments were low and we figured since it would be something we would keep for a long time a new trailer would be a good investment and not have the potential maintenance problems that a used trailer was sure to have. It wasn’t until we got the trailer home and Sandy spent a Saturday loading and organizing it that we realized something was wrong. Sandy began to complain that evening of a headache and that her eyes and throat were burning. She discovered from an internet search late in the night that new trailers off-gas formaldehyde – we didn’t realize this at the time we purchased it otherwise we certainly would not have bought the trailer.

We wouldn’t want to expose our children to the formaldehyde fumes in a new trailer due to the potentially dangerous consequences (click here for examples). After we bought it, we were told that opening the windows and operating the air conditioner would remove the smell; however that still does not remove the source. The pressed boards, adhesives, carpets, etc. in travel trailers off-gas formaldehyde for potentially years. Since we would be living in this environment for very likely over a year, and we would not always be able to operate the air conditioner and open the vents, we would be exposing ourselves and our children to this off-gassing. Further research on the internet as well as discussions with an environmental consultant and air purifying companies compounded our concerns about formaldehyde off-gassing. We are not willing to risk our children’s health so now we are in the process of trying to return the trailer since we did not know about the off-gassing at the time we purchased it.

This has been an expensive lesson. I cashed out my retirement savings and bought a large SUV capable of towing a travel trailer. It is not very fuel efficient for deputation travels. There are other expenses associated with this as well that could have all been avoided had I not been blinded by my own logic and had evaluated the circumstances in light of the word of God and leading of the Holy Spirit.

“Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” – Proverbs 3:5,6