PRAISE THE LORD! Today marks the last day of paying my “bad debt” for my medical missionary training in Wildwood. Paid after 8 years! Praise praise praise Him!
Which reminds me of what God did for me when I had much bigger debt, 9 years ago.
During my early years serving as a medical missionary, I was facing quite a huge sum of student debt (thousands of $$$$) for my masters in music. I had no idea how I would pay it off since my stipend (in pesos) was only enough to cover my basic needs. A friend helped a little bit here and there, Davin, who was still my boyfriend at that time helped as well. But all their efforts looked like a penny in the bucket and by the looks of it I had to be paying it off for 15-20 years or more if I didn’t find a job.
So I left my active missionary post and found a job, but still, the monthly salary I received looked like chump change (even if I put it all in) in comparison to how much I owed. To add pressure to paying it off, the more I took my time to pay it, the larger the debt grew, and I ended just paying for the interest instead of the the debt itself.
I was full of questions and was not a saint about it. I had my bouts of complaints, crying and self pity, but kept praying. I knew I was fulfilling God’s plan with regards to my career choices in life, and that I was precisely where God wanted me to be. I had no doubts about that — but why put me in such an impossible situation?
Then one morning, my devotional reading was about Jacob begging the Angel to bless him, or else he will not let go. That morning I begged God for peace, inspite of. I didn’t want to worry how it was going to be paid because it was His problem after all. When I finally put everything in God’s hands, the following events that happened were nothing short of a miracle.
In other words, the school forgave my debt! They asked me to pay only 10% of my total debt. 5% was paid by a relative, and the other 5% was loaned by a friend who said I can take my time paying it off. A year later, I was able to pay her completely. Hallelujah!
We’re still in the trenches of paying off other ministry-related debts, but we know we are going to get there. Longing to be debt-free, but until then, still thankful for His constant providence. One raven at a time. What a faithful God!
Quoting from one my favorite songs, my thoughts are perfectly summarized, “There is no need for needless worry. With such a Savior, we have no cause to ever doubt His perfect Word still reassures, in any trial.”
