Thursday, April 4, 2013
Say What!?
Monday, March 25, 2013
Dustin's Story
As we look back over the past few years, we cannot help but see how God has guided our lives to the decision to adopt. Even the circumstances of our first meeting point to His plan. In the summer of 2004, as a sophomore at Texas Tech, I came up with a master plan that would inadvertently put me on this whirl-wind journey. You see, I absolutely hated having to spend all of my time going to class, attending study sessions, and doing other education related activities. I realized that if I added the right two classes each semester to my already full schedule, I could double and even triple count the credits towards graduation requirements. Sure, that would mean two very grueling semesters that year, but the ambitiously-lazy part of my brain said "It's worth it! You will graduate in 3 years instead of 4!"
I also started to realize that I needed something to do after that magical graduation day finally came. At only 21 years old, I had no idea what it was that I was supposed to do after I finished college. So, I spoke with my Uncle, Jay Don Rogers, about plans for the summer of 2005. He runs the Ukrainian Biblical Institute in Donetsk, Ukraine, and is in contact with many missionaries that I thought might need an intern for the summer. He directed me to Steve Talliafero, the missionary in charge of Jeremiah's Hope. He worked with the children at the orphanages in and around Donetsk, and needed someone to help coordinate VBS style summer camps for the kids.
During my last year at Tech, I attempted unsuccessfully to raise the money to get to Ukraine. I wrote letters, talked to churches, and various other things to get the amount necessary to go. Three weeks prior to my departure, I received devastating news: my Ukrainian visa had been declined based on a mistake that I made in the paperwork. There simply was not enough time to apply for another one. Couple that with the fact that I was still $900 short of the money needed for the trip, and I was sure that I was not going to make it to Ukraine. I was completely devastated and had no idea how to break the news to Steve. The next day I was at the church that I grew up attending in my hometown. I asked the church for prayers for God's comfort and guidance in trying to wade through the situation.
It is amazing how God answers prayers. Sometimes he is so subtle that you would never know he was working on you unless you look very carefully for his presence in the tiniest details. Other times he smacks you in the forehead with a 10 pound hammer. Immediately after service let out, people in the church approached me with all of the normal platitudes that you always get when you are having a tough time. "Hang in there, something good will come of this." "God works in mysterious ways." I had a lot of people to talk to, so I didn't even think twice when a handshake or two left a piece of paper in my hand. I just put the paper in my pocket and didn't think about it until later that day when I got undressed. I dug out all of the pieces of paper in my pocket, and realized that it wasn't just one or two people that had given me little slips of paper. After totaling it up, I had roughly $1200 worth of cash and checks in my pocket.
As I said earlier, I was $900 short. The purpose of the extra $300 became very clear the very next day. A friend of mine told me that he knew a guy in Washington DC that had a rather unique business. For $250, he would stand in line at a foreign embassy and obtain a travel visa for his client. Doing this, he could get me a visa by the end of the week, as opposed to the 6 weeks it took if you mailed your passport to them. So, after one week and $50 to FedEx for overnight delivery of my passport, I had everything I needed to get to Ukraine. I graduated in May 2005, and was on a plane 3 days later. Through this experience I learned two valuable lessons: God will always find a way, even when we don't think possible. But more importantly, money cannot and will not be a barrier to his work. After all, he owns the cattle on a thousand hills, and the hills that they are grazing on. I think he can handle this petty thing we call money.
I also started to realize that I needed something to do after that magical graduation day finally came. At only 21 years old, I had no idea what it was that I was supposed to do after I finished college. So, I spoke with my Uncle, Jay Don Rogers, about plans for the summer of 2005. He runs the Ukrainian Biblical Institute in Donetsk, Ukraine, and is in contact with many missionaries that I thought might need an intern for the summer. He directed me to Steve Talliafero, the missionary in charge of Jeremiah's Hope. He worked with the children at the orphanages in and around Donetsk, and needed someone to help coordinate VBS style summer camps for the kids.
During my last year at Tech, I attempted unsuccessfully to raise the money to get to Ukraine. I wrote letters, talked to churches, and various other things to get the amount necessary to go. Three weeks prior to my departure, I received devastating news: my Ukrainian visa had been declined based on a mistake that I made in the paperwork. There simply was not enough time to apply for another one. Couple that with the fact that I was still $900 short of the money needed for the trip, and I was sure that I was not going to make it to Ukraine. I was completely devastated and had no idea how to break the news to Steve. The next day I was at the church that I grew up attending in my hometown. I asked the church for prayers for God's comfort and guidance in trying to wade through the situation.
It is amazing how God answers prayers. Sometimes he is so subtle that you would never know he was working on you unless you look very carefully for his presence in the tiniest details. Other times he smacks you in the forehead with a 10 pound hammer. Immediately after service let out, people in the church approached me with all of the normal platitudes that you always get when you are having a tough time. "Hang in there, something good will come of this." "God works in mysterious ways." I had a lot of people to talk to, so I didn't even think twice when a handshake or two left a piece of paper in my hand. I just put the paper in my pocket and didn't think about it until later that day when I got undressed. I dug out all of the pieces of paper in my pocket, and realized that it wasn't just one or two people that had given me little slips of paper. After totaling it up, I had roughly $1200 worth of cash and checks in my pocket.
As I said earlier, I was $900 short. The purpose of the extra $300 became very clear the very next day. A friend of mine told me that he knew a guy in Washington DC that had a rather unique business. For $250, he would stand in line at a foreign embassy and obtain a travel visa for his client. Doing this, he could get me a visa by the end of the week, as opposed to the 6 weeks it took if you mailed your passport to them. So, after one week and $50 to FedEx for overnight delivery of my passport, I had everything I needed to get to Ukraine. I graduated in May 2005, and was on a plane 3 days later. Through this experience I learned two valuable lessons: God will always find a way, even when we don't think possible. But more importantly, money cannot and will not be a barrier to his work. After all, he owns the cattle on a thousand hills, and the hills that they are grazing on. I think he can handle this petty thing we call money.
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