Cabin 14
For twenty-four years, our income came from Church Youth Ministry and Christian camping. Working internationally would come without the certainty of a regular salary. Harold wrestled with the message he preached that night on trusting God. The Holy Spirit nudged him for an answer. Was he ready to take the next step in trusting God for an uncertain salary?
When Harold returned home from preaching, he entered with a grin on his face and joy in his heart. I recall wishing I had attended the Sunday sermon, as he seemed quite pleased about something.
Sitting on the sofa, he revealed he was aware of my twenty-plus years of prayer for God’s call to full-time missions, yet he worried about the financial support needed for our overseas work. Harold explained that we were in our late forties, empty nesters, and now was our time to find an overseas mission. I found it hard to believe my ears. I jumped up and down on the sofa, screaming with excitement.
“We are going!” I had no idea what was in store for us in the next few weeks.
This conversation was not a new one; what made it different was that Harold knew we were called to go, but we did not know where.
After much prayer, Harold decided to contact twelve men he respected, asking for their advice on an organization to apply to or whether we should go on our own. Everyone he contacted replied, “It is about time you guys went full-time overseas.” Everyone knew our hearts for mission over the years, but we desired God’s perfect timing. Well, Harold did. I was impatient.
Our oldest son and daughter had already attended a YWAM training school. When we began praying about where to go, they immediately recommended the bases that had impacted their lives.
We had no idea where God was leading us, so their suggestion became our starting point.
Looking back, I smile when I think about it. God used them to help point us toward the next step, even though we would later learn how difficult it was for all three of our adult children to watch us leave.
We needed to inform our boss at the head office that we would leave at the end of the summer, which was three months away. The Manager of the camp was not too happy but said reluctantly, ” Okay.” Harold promised to find and train up his replacement and finish the busiest time of year before we left. Harold also said that we would move into Cabin 14 so the new family could move in before we left. This would give them a warm welcome into their new home.
My list of things to sell was growing longer. Being accepted into the mission training program was helpful. Now, I knew how much we needed to raise.
Writing each item on the list, I counted numerous times, adding up how close we were to our goal.
Adrenaline raced through my veins, and I could barely sit still. The big day to sell everything had come. Items were tagged on every dish, sofa, chair, TV, and cabinet with a special price. It seemed that if we sold everything we owned, we’d have enough money for the three-month training and then move to Ukraine. We told everyone we knew.
The day started off slowly. Some staff came out to see what they might want and bought a few small things. My mom took Harold’s entire Coca-Cola collection, which later became our income.
Then one worker from the camp came strolling over. He looked through the house, picking up and inspecting many things. When he finished, he told Harold that he wanted all of it. What? He wanted to buy everything we had. Even the go-karts we had in the yard. I gasped. Checking off the items on my trusty list, I could see that we could move and do our mission training.
Harold and a bunch of the guys loaded up the huge flatbed truck along with his car with our beds, sofa, dishes, refrigerator, TV, and the entire list. The man paid Harold for our son’s go-cart and then said he would bring a check for the rest tomorrow. We agreed since he worked with us at the camp, and Harold said, “No problem, I know where you live.” We all laughed as the man drove away.
Two days passed, and no worker and no check. Harold knew where the man lived, so we drove to his home. As we pulled into the driveway, I could see through the windows with no curtains covering them, and the room looked dark inside. We walked up to the front door; my stomach felt sick. After knocking on the door several times, there was no answer. We walked around the house, peeking in windows, and the house was completely empty, everything gone.
He had stolen all of our belongings. My list with all the check marks. Worthless.
We sat in the car holding hands in shock, but Harold believed God said, “Trust Me alone and do not worry, for my yoke is easy. Trust and rest in Me.
The next day, the manager of the camp called Harold into his office and asked him to shut the door. That is never a good sign from a boss. Harold sat across the desk, waiting for instructions for summer camp. Maybe there were some changes.
The manager explained to Harold that since we had trained our replacements and the camp needed Cabin 14, we needed to leave. This made no sense, as our contract was good for another three months. And he added that we were to be out as soon as possible. All kinds of arguments flooded Harold’s mind. He thought I could say this is illegal; we have a contract, or you promised we could stay through the next three months. But he felt the Holy Spirit whisper,
“My yoke is easy; you need to trust me.”
Harold replied with an “ok we will be out of Cabin 14.”
Cabin 14 was the oldest, most run-down cabin at the camp. No one had used it in a few years. It was the size of a small bed and toilet with a sink. One person could fit on one side of the bed while the other crawled over near the wall. It smelled like mold with a water-stained ceiling from the rains. The floor was worn down, exposing dirt in most places. After losing all our possessions, we fit easily into cabin 14.
As we huddled together on the bed, both of us staring at the floor, we had no paycheck, no home, and no job. We were learning to trust God with our finances. Our youngest son popped his head in and said, “OH, I see this is too big a job for God to figure out.” Smart mouth, but it was true God had brought us this far. He was not going to leave us now.
The next day, one of the staff members from camp came over with some information. She had heard how we had lost everything and that we also had to leave. Harold was her boss, so this came as a shock to her as well. Everyone loved Harold and our kids doing ministry together.
She told Harold her father was a local contractor who might have a part-time job. No ministry was going to hire us for only three months.
The interview went well. Tim, the owner of the contracting business, asked all kinds of questions about ministry and missions, even though it was a building job. Tim loved Jesus and missions, and he wanted to be involved in helping if he could. He asked Harold how much he was making at the camp, to which Harold responded, and then Tim said what we never expected.
“I will pay you the same amount.”
Harold was shocked. Tim could hire a high schooler to do what Harold was able to do in contracting work. We later learned the skills Tim taught Harold came in handy on the mission field.
Then Tim said, “Do you have a place to live?” Harold responded with a no. Tim told Harold about the wonderful guesthouse his family owned, and no one was living there. It was huge, with three bedrooms, a seven-person hot tub inside, and a TV bigger than anything we had ever seen, and for FREE!
If Harold had argued his rights with the manager of the camp, we would have stayed in Cabin 14, but he listened to the spirit of God, and we got to live for free in a beautiful home with pay matching what we needed. We have not always listened. I wonder how many times we have missed out on the blessing of the indoor hot tub and pushed our way into staying in a “Cabin 14 situation.
From that day forward, checks started coming in from people we did not even know. My list-making stopped as it seemed whatever I put on the list to sell ended up not helping at all.
That is not where the story ends.
A month afterward, we got a call from YWAM; they said their training school was being canceled.
Again, where do you want us, Lord?
YWAM provides a Manual that lists all their bases, including dates and locations for service opportunities. I was excited to see where God was leading us. We had chosen Montana, and now God was pointing us in the direction He wanted us to go.
After weeks of calling, they led us to a base in Denmark to train to serve in Tanzania, East Africa, where we have been since 2002. With no regrets and many lessons learned.
Looking back, Cabin 14 was never about losing our possessions. It was about learning that God could be trusted. Not with part of our lives, with all of it. It was about following God’s call even when it hurt. If we had fought for our rights, we might have stayed in Cabin 14. Instead, God was already preparing the next step. We just couldn’t see it yet.