Cedar Hill, TX
Nov 27, 2000

Giving and receiving cars

“Honey, what would you think if I said that I wanted to give one of our cars to that new missionary family in our church?” The Gowards were a young missionary family that had moved to Steinbach, Manitoba to attend Bible School in the fall of 1977 before continuing their work among the Eskimos in the Artic. “Do you realize that they are driving a tiny old dilapidated car without a heater and it’s the middle of winter? Wouldn’t it be a nice Christmas present for them?” I was a little afraid of Robert’s response because I was always having outrageous ideas like this.

Robert turned to me, “You know, the same thought went through my mind last night when Elder Henry was describing the constant problems the Gowards were having with the old loaner car they were using. Which one of our cars do you think we should give them?”

“Our best one of course. The 1969 Oldsmobile burns a quart of oil every 150 miles. It wouldn’t be very good to give them that one”, I replied.

“Well, you know that means you have to give up your 1970 Dodge Dart – your pride and joy – the first new car that you bought for yourself.”

“I know. I’ve already considered that, but I believe that if I give it as onto the Lord, He’ll reward me.”

“Are you sure that we can handle having only one car?” he asked. “We really can’t afford to buy another car right now.”

“I know it won’t be easy, but God will take care of us. I really believe He wants us to do this.”

“Okay. I’ll call the church elders in the morning and make the arrangements. Hopefully, we can make this donation anonymously. I don’t think the Gowards have been around long enough to know what kind of car everyone drives.”

“Hope so, although my car is bright yellow and stands out like a neon sign. Oh well.”

This event took place 23 years ago. God has always taken care of our transportation needs, but no one has ever given us a car until now. This past week, friends of ours from Manitoba, Canada gave us their 1991 Pontiac Grand Prix. They drove it here and hand-delivered it to us on Thanksgiving Day. We Praise the Lord for His faithfulness to us and for friends who love us enough to make this kind of sacrifice.