Exceedingly Abundantly - Yet Again

By Tom and Paula Carr

• A small group of believers .... A HUGE DEBT.
• A tiny building on a postage stamp-sized lot .... A HUGE DEBT.
• Small, albeit faithful, weekly offerings .... A HUGE DEBT.
• Two or three special offerings .... A HUGE DEBT.

The letter came in February, the attorney's name clearly marked on the outside of the envelope. Did this mean we were being sued? Or was it some kind of audit? WRONG! The letter stated we had been named in a will for an amount that seemed rather large to us! Could this really be true? (Tom doesn't even remember meeting the lady who had left us the money, and Paula only remembers a few brief conversations with her.) We were in a state of shock! What should we do with that much money? The Bible says, "To whom much is given, much is required." That was a constant thought for several months.

When we arrived at the Hayato Baptist Church, Kagoshima Prefecture, southern Japan, in April 1996, our work was to be something of a rescue effort. Our ministry was to help members recover following a church split and the national pastor's resignation. The group, consisting of 12 adults, met in a new building and was heavily in debt. They had borrowed from church members with almost half the debt owed to one family. The Kagoshima church loan fund had also lent money. We wondered how a church that small could ever pay off ´9,000,000 (around $90,000). The people were faithfully giving and paying about $500 each month. But at that rate it would be years before the debt was paid.

We held three special offering Sundays when church members gave their spare change. Some people gave specially designated gifts. Combining that money with the $500 monthly payment, it looked as if three of the individual notes could be erased, leaving only the largest. Tom planned a special service for November 23, 1997. That is Japan's Thanksgiving Day although they don't thank God for anything. Our plan was to thank God for the money that had come in and to burn copies of the paid notes.

Meanwhile, the legal process for the will was completed, and we received word that a check would be sent to our account at the ABWE headquarters in Harrisburg. It was really going to happen! We believed God wanted us to put most of the money towards paying off the remaining individual note, to help encourage the faithful people in the church. Wouldn't it be wonderful to have the money in hand by November 23 and burn the fourth note as well? Almost daily we contacted ABWE by e-mail. But each time we learned that the money had not yet been received, and so could not be sent to Japan. At last, the message for which we had been waiting came on November 21. The check had arrived!

Sunday morning, November 23, Tom held up the copies of the three notes that had been paid. Then he started telling the story of the will. With tears in his eyes and a shaky voice, he announced that the fourth and largest note would be paid off as well in December, when we received our next ABWE financial voucher. Now it was time for the church people to experience a state of shock! We thanked and praised God together as we burned copies of loan notes that represented half of the overall loan for the building and land.

We can only thank our gracious and generous heavenly Father who provided such a wonderful gift to His children. We look forward to introducing our church members to their benefactor when we all meet in Heaven. We thank God for her desire to be used by Him, resulting in the spread of the influence of the Gospel through the ministry of Hayato Baptist Church.

• A small group of believers .... A GREAT GOD.
• A tiny building on a postage stamp-sized lot .... A GREAT GOD.
• Small, albeit faithful, weekly offerings .... A GREAT GOD.
• Two or three special offerings .... A GREAT GOD.

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