The God who Called will Provide

“And Abraham called the name of that place The LORD Will Provide, as it is said to this day, ‘In the mount of the LORD it will be provided.’” Genesis 22:14, NAS.

Jenny* is the seventh of 11 children from a poor family living in Jakarta, Indonesia. Her family was Christian, and she remembers from a young age hearing her father read to the whole family from the Bible every day.

At the age of 13 Jenny recalls going to a revival service at her church. The speaker shared from John 3:16, and Jenny knew that she needed to receive God’s wonderful gift of salvation. After making that decision Jenny was surprised to find how much more meaningful her lifelong habits of prayer and Bible study became. Scriptures came alive, and her prayers seemed more real.

Shortly after being saved Jenny was praying about her future schooling. In a clear voice Jesus told Jenny to study husbandry. Jenny wanted to study agriculture. She wasn’t even sure she knew what husbandry was about. The next day she looked at the list of available study programs at her school, and there on the list was husbandry.

When she told her mother of her desire to continue school, her mom said, “Jenny, we don’t have any money to help you with more schooling.” All of Jenny’s siblings had dropped out of school, and her mom’s statement was not a surprise. Jenny, however, believed that God had called her to get the schooling. She believed that the God who called would also provide her needs.

She went to the admissions office to take the entrance exam for the husbandry program. Her exam score enabled her not only to qualify for the program, but also for a scholarship covering her first year’s books and fees. At school she was so poor that she could only afford to eat one meal a day. She had a little bit of sugar and made tea for the other two meals. Her friends would often invite her to join them for a meal, but she was too embarrassed to let them know she couldn’t afford to eat. So she told them she was too shy.

During her last year in school the scholarship ran out. She needed 500,000 Rupiah (which is about $50 U.S.), which was more money than she had ever seen at one time in her life. She knew her family could not help her, so she prayed to God and waited for a miracle. The miracle came in the mail a couple of weeks later. Jenny had a relative living in Europe whom she had never met. This relative had heard of Jenny’s need and had decided to sponsor her last semester at college. When Jenny graduated she told her friends and family, “Jesus wanted me to get this training and He provided for it!”

Shortly after her graduation her uncle heard about a Baptist farm that was being started on another island. The person in charge of starting the farm needed someone to help with the goat husbandry program. The uncle let them know about Jenny, and she has been working at the farm ever since.

Jenny looks back on her schooling experience as a training ground that strengthened her faith. “When I face impossible situations in my work I am not worried,” said Jenny with a smile. “If God has called us to do it, He will provide.”

*Name changed for security reasons.

Pray that:

Believers in Indonesia will be like Jenny and have complete faith in the provisions of God for the works of God.

Indonesian Christians will have the courage and faith to step out on the calling of God even when they can see no way for its completion other than God’s intervention.

Pacific Rim is a region of the International Mission Board, SBC.