Give It Up!

Joe Wickman

The following is an account of God's faithfulness in answering prayer as told by Dr. Jerry Van Kuiken, pastor of the Zeeland Free Methodist Church (North Michigan) in an email to fellow pastors after his week of teaching at J-Term.

This past week I have been at Spring Arbor University teaching a course on the book of Isaiah to students who are entering the ministry as a second career. One of the students was a young man named Joe, from New York, who is a bi-vocational pastor. He has three small children. Joe had to take a week off work without pay in order to attend J-Term. During the week he began to have trouble with his old car. Tuesday he put the car in the shop and it cost him $85. The next day he had to return the car to the shop. He was told it would cost $105 for the diagnostics on the engine. Thursday evening he learned that his engine was damaged beyond repair. He still had to pay the $105, which he did with a bank card — taking from the family's grocery money that week. He called his wife and told her, and she asked: "What are we going to do?" He told her they would have to wait and see what developed. That night in his motel, he heard a voice say: "Give it up!" Then, a verse from our studies in Isaiah came to him: "This is the way; walk in it" (Isaiah 30:21). Friday at noon Joe had to go to the dealership and tow his car away and decide what to do with it.

Meanwhile, God was at work. Unbeknownst to Joe, the members of two of the J-Term classes had heard about his troubles and taken up a collection. Also, someone had given a used van to the Light and Life FMC (Indianapolis, IN). The stewardship committee did not know anyone who needed the van, but they decided to accept the gift. The van only needed tie rod ends, and a member of the church was completing those repairs. Beth Cullison, an associate pastor from Light and Life, knew Joe from previous J-Term classes. When she learned of the situation, she called her head pastor and asked permission to offer the van to Joe and his family. Right after Joe returned from towing his useless car to the home of a fellow student, Beth approached him the told him about the van. He said, "Beth, we've been praying for a van for a year." When he entered the classroom, one of the students went to him and presented him with a card and the collection of over $310. He broke down as he told the class all that had happened. As Joe chose to keep on walking in God's way, God did a miracle in his life.

In February, Joe will fly to Indianapolis — using frequent flyer miles given to him by his uncle — to pick up the van and meet the people who were part of his answer to prayer.