There was a season early on in our marriage where we were very broke. At the time we were doing ministry with Muslim refugees in Louisville, KY. We were seeking to make ends meet through a combination of free rent (since we lived in a refugee resettlement apartment complex and put on community events for the residents), part-time support from Christian friends given through NAMB, and sales of looseleaf Central Asian chai. Needless to say, things were tight.
One of our partner churches was a very small church in the rural midwest. There were around twenty members, and most of them would have also been struggling to get by. I remember one prayer meeting where a man confessed, in tears, that he had been bitter about eating only deer meat. He couldn’t afford to buy meat from the grocery store, so his family had to rely on what he shot for their protein. The man asked for prayer that he would be grateful for the deer meat that God had provided them.
The financial support from this church wasn’t much, but it meant all the more knowing that they were giving to us out of their poverty, in a way that reminded me of how the Macedonians had given to Paul. There is a danger of falling into an entitlement mindset when we live off the giving off other believers. Churches like this keep me awake to the wonder of Christian generosity.
One winter, we drove out to spend the weekend with them and the pastor told us that they had recently butchered some pigs and, from them, made a bunch of pork sausage. I didn’t grow up in the rural US, but I did grow up in Melanesia, where pig meat is the most prized and expensive of all meats. Anytime you found out you were going to eat pig, this was cause for celebration. Here was a link between the residents of the midwestern cornfields and the mountain peoples of my childhood. Though here it would not be slow-cooked by hot rocks in a pit in the ground, but fried up in a cast iron skillet.
Truthfully, on that trip I had felt a little disappointed that the church hadn’t been able to give a bit more in the way of funding. Though, of course, I was happy to find out they were planning on sending some pork sausage home with us. I could not have predicted just how much they were planning to send.
When it was time to load up our car, the pastor filled up an entire cooler’s worth of freshly-made pork sausage and fresh deer meat. As I recall, the cooler was very heavy as I stashed it next to our son’s carseat in the back of our little ’95 Honda Civic. We said thank you over and over for this lavish gift and the pastor and his wife just waved us off, smiling and downplaying it all.
This gift proved to be extra helpful because this was a season where our apartment was constantly full of guests, many of them Muslims. We were committed to opening our home throughout the week to host our refugee friends for lunches, dinners, and late night chai and sweets. These meals gave them a small taste of the community they missed so much and also led to spiritual conversations. But, of course, all of this meant we were regularly emptying out our fridge, freezer, and cupboards in order to feed everyone.
Now, however, we had a freezer full of meat that we couldn’t serve to most of our guests. Muslims are forbidden to eat pork. And we would never dare serve pork as even part of a meal when we were hosting Muslims, since they would find it to be so offensive and disgusting. Yet we had pounds and pounds of pork sausage in our freezer. This meant that my family had meat just for us that lasted for several months. Like Elijah and the widow’s oil, the pork sausage seemed like it would never run out. Throughout one of the most difficult financial seasons for our family, we had abundant meat to eat – and that of the most delicious kind.
In seasons of support-raising, like this one, I am reminded of the sweet provision that came from our friends in that little rural church. My wife and I have brought up the pork sausage many times over the years as an example of God’s kind and unexpected provision. He really will take care of us, whether that’s by hunting deer, monthly support, or even a freezer full of pork sausage.
Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
Matthew 6:31-33, ESV
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Two international churches in our region are in need of pastors, one needs a lead pastor and one an associate pastor. Our kids’ TCK school is also in need of a math and a science teacher for middle school and high school. If you have a good lead, shoot me a note here.
Blogs are not set up well for finding older posts, so I’ve added an alphabetized index of all the story and essay posts I’ve written so far. You can peruse that here.
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Entrusted to the Dirt 
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