A summer of adventure and study was over and we began to look forward
to the excitement and challenge of Christian service overseas. We were to
find out that though man preposes, God disposes.
A summer of adventure and study was over and we began to look forward
to the excitement and challenge of Christian service overseas. We were to
find out that though man preposes, God disposes.
The summer spent in exploring and discovering Europe was coming to an end. It was our plan to leave Europe at the end of summer to serve in some capacity as overseas Christian volunteer service workers, either with the Mennonite Central Committee or with the Peace Corp. It was a great plan, but there was one problem. We had not heard from either one during the course of the summer. Catherine would soon have to move from the dormitory she was staying in while attending the Goethe Institute. Our funds were running low. All we had was just about enough money to fly back to Tallahassee. Even if we did return to Tallahassee, we didn't have a job. We were beginning to get more than a little worried.
What follows is a great story of Providence. But first I must give some history, for the seeds of this story had been planted several years earlier, when Catherine had spent her junior year abroad at the University of Bonn. During her time there she became friends with a young German woman, Uli, who, as it turned out, was now studying French and English at the University of Heidelberg, just a few miles away from Mannheim. While in Bonn, Catherine attended the church that Uli and her family attended, meeting another young woman who also was now in Heidelberg working for a German publisher of scientific books, Springer-Verlag. Catherine called her to say hello, and in the course of conversation made known our predicament. Catherine's friend said that Springer was in need of native American-English speakers to help in proof reading and editing scientific books in English. Would we be interested?In our hearts we still wanted to go to a developing world country as service volunteers, but still hadn't heard from the US about possible positions overseas. We had made contact with a GI, a Christian, who offered to call the Peace Corp on our behalf to find out what was the status of our application (since we couldn't afford the long distance call!). But days had gone by and we had not heard from him. Since Springer was looking for someone with a scientific background, I applied for the job and was offered a position! So we walked through the door that was opened to us. I called Springer and told them I would accept the job. That afternoon, the GI called and said that the Peace Corp had been trying to get in touch with us and had an immediate position for us in Africa.
What a predicament! As we prayed and sought God's will we became more and more convicted of the Scripture which says "Let your yea, be yea, and your nay be nay." We had already said "yes" to Springer and felt that we should honor our word. On the second anniversary of our wedding, we made the decision to stay in Heidelberg for one year. But little did we know that the Source of Every Good and Perfect Gift had just gotten started!
