GOD TURNS DISASTER INTO OPPORTUNITY!

by David & Sue Verwey

We have recently been reminded again of God's faithfulness and how precious children are. Just two days ago our middle child, Alex (12), was going down the hill on his bicycle at "break-neck" speed and lost control. His bike went one way and he slid under an on-coming car head first! The car stopped just as he slid under the car. His helmet was tightly wedged in under the car and couldn't be pull out easily.

Fortunately Alex came out of it with a few bruises and a scratch on his leg and his arm! Everybody including the doctor and the driver were very surprised. Praise the Lord!

We learned some valuable lessons that day:

1. Never take God's protection for granted! We praise the Lord for His protection regularly and that is how it should be!

2. Don't hesitate to buy your kids helmets and make them wear them when they are riding bicycles, even if they are a little expensive. Even if buying a helmet will save the life of 1 child in a hundred it is well worth the cost!

A couple days later the wife of the driver, Mrs. Tanaka, and her daughter came to visit Alex with a large gift in hand and apologized profusely for Alex's injuries. This would be unthinkable in the West, considering that the incident was entirely Alex's fault! We also produced a gift, as is customary, and gave her an evangelistic leaflet which also explains a little bit about what we are doing in Japan. She said that they are people who love to put their faith in the gods. She said that they go and worship at the nearby temple, "Hozanji", on the first day of every month at 4 am.

Please pray for the Tanaka family as they seem to be sincerely putting their faith into that which offers no hope. Please pray that God would use this accident to speak to their hearts about the Truth, the Way and the Life. Please pray that the Tanaka family would continue their contact with us and that we would be able to share more about what Jesus did for us on the cross.

As we step back from this incident we praise the Lord for His sovereignty and protection. God has once again shown us that He can make something beautiful out of a child's careless action and what the enemy intended for disaster! Praise the Lord!

"I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end." (Jer 29:11)

Thanking you for your faithful prayers!

David, Sue, Alex, Jesse and Chris

Send us e-mail at: DVerwey@aol.com