Rooftop Worship

Sunday late morning, the Schmidt and Harman families joined in worship on the third floor roof of our future home. There's nothing like it. Surrounded by mountains and beautiful farmland with the sun beating down on us and the sky so blue, makes one feel as close to God as one can get on this earth He created for us.

It wasn't exactly picturesque among the children gathered around. Uncle Mark talked a bit. We sang. We probed the kids for their thoughts. Some of them contributed. Some of them didn't. We prayed fervently for God to do this miracle: provide enough money ($380,000) for the school (and our home) to be ready to move in by Thanksgiving. It's not magic, but fervent prayer does work. We believe in our hearts that this is from God...the entire vision for change for this poor and desperately needy village, a school to provide an opportunity for change in every aspect of their lives, and a place our two families can call home among these people.

We've taught our kids all along that when you want something really bad and it seems impossible, you tell God about it. They've watched God answer these prayers in big and small ways. Kate prayed for "a black lab puppy with a light blue collar that would grow up and have babies someday" for 3 years. She prayed before bed every night. She asked her Sunday school class to pray with her. She prayed for it any time there was praying. Finally, two summers ago, she got her prayer answered (only we're hoping she has forgotten about the "babies someday" part). Earlier that same year, while we were on vacation, Kate lost her favorite watch. She was so upset, she couldn't eat supper that night. So she prayed. Britt got out the camera to see if they could see the last place she had her watch on in the pictures. It was in the ocean. Yep. Sure enough. She'd lost it in the ocean while playing in the waves. Of course, we all knew what that meant. The next day we were all out playing on the beach when up walks Clint with Kate's watch. It had washed up while he was playing in the water. I was astounded. You mean to tell me that God cares about something as trivial as a lost watch for one of his dear children? You might say, it's just a coincidence. But we know it was a wonderful lesson for our whole family to learn about God's majestic power. The chances of her watch washing up at the exact time we were all out there playing are scientifically impossible. But with God, nothing is impossible. And that's how we feel about $380,000 coming in for this building to be completed by Thanksgiving.