Miles In Missions

Many of you know our Nigerian daughter, Titi. For those of you who have no idea who she is – I invite you to click on the following link to read Titi’s amazing testimony. https://milesinmissions.wordpress.com/2018/03/01/my-goal-my-dream-my-life/

After Titi moved in with us we felt it was part of God’s plan for her to have the best education we could provide. We signed Titi up for SAT and TOEFL classes to prepare her for the required international exams. We also had to obtain an international passport so she could take those exams. There were mountains of paperwork to complete in applying to colleges and universities; and applying for scholarships and grants. We even applied to programs to help you apply for scholarships. In all this time we had no idea of the plans our God had put in place. So we just kept “throwing spaghetti at the wall” to see what would stick. The process was exhausting and the responses we received back were demoralizing. She was denied scholarships or financial aid because she wasn’t in the top of her class or she didn’t score over 1400 on the SAT or she wasn’t involved in sports. We were told over and over again that Titi’s case was hopeless and we were wasting our time.

I was near tears one evening when I vented all my frustration to my Bible study group. I knew I heard very clearly that God wanted something better for Titi but He was not showing us what His plans were. The good news is that we didn’t give up and we continued to tell Titi’s story to everyone we came across.

Finally one day we got an acceptance letter from Webster University, a U.S. University located in Ghana. They offered her a 25% scholarship. We were excited as she would be close enough to travel home for visits plus the food wouldn’t be so different and there would be a large African population for her to make friends. The icing on the cake was a U.S. college education. It sounded perfect! Then one day I was telling a fellow missionary about our many challenges with college applications and she asked if we had ever tried Lancaster Bible College. I said “Where in the world is Lancaster?” As she shared about this amazing college and how they worked with her on her two sons’ tuitions- I began to get excited. We had already applied to a million places so what was one more application – just to make certain – before we committed Titi to the university in Ghana.

I emailed the info@lancaster address and said very bluntly in my email…”I don’t want to waste either of our time but we have an amazing Nigerian daughter whose testimony I have attached. We have acceptance to Webster University with a 25% scholarship. That is where she is going unless you have something better.” I was weary and just could not be anything but direct. Within 24 hours we had an email from an angel who had talked to their admissions team and were offering Titi a 50% scholarship in the degree program she was wanting!!! But there were big hurdles that had to be tackled. The remaining 50% of tuition, housing and meals as they were not included in the scholarship PLUS we had the issue of a Visa and airfare. Wow God, we have been “throwing spaghetti at the wall” and a few things have actually stuck!

So we began tackling our hurdles one at a time. Housing – who do we know in Lancaster? Lenny, my husband, reminded me that we actually knew three families who had served in Nigeria and just left the field in the past 30 days that were from Lancaster. I was laughing now! I reached out to these wonderful missionaries to see if they would ask their churches and friends if anyone would be willing to provide housing for an international student. That Sunday we laid hands on Titi and asked God to provide housing if His plans were for her to attend Lancaster Bible College. Within 24 hours I received a message from the sweetest, young couple you will ever meet, Simeon and Alison Harrar. They opened their home to Titi AND they live 1 mile from campus!

Ok God, you have provided the school, the scholarship and the housing now we need a Visa. Our experience with a Nigerian being granted a Visa has not been a good one. On top of everything there was the pressure of forfeiting the Webster University scholarship if we did not respond back within a few days. We moved forward with Lancaster Bible College believing that God hadn’t opened all these doors only to have her Visa application denied. On July 16th, Titi’s 20th birthday, she was granted a U.S. Visa. But we barely had time to celebrate as we now faced the $15,000 hurdle…her tuition, airfare, monthly meals and supplies. Lord we need a miracle!

Titi sent emails out to everyone she had ever met. God provided and day-by-day donations started to come in – $6,800 to date. In addition, some precious people donated their air miles for Titi’s airline ticket.

This blog is so long but it can’t even begin to tell all the big and small miracles that Titi and I would wake up to every morning and dance and scream. The beginning of the year was such a struggle but the past few months were so sweet and God totally showed up and showed off. This process encouraged me even more to not give up and to persevere until we hear the voice of God say “STOP” or He shuts a door in our face. I wanted to give up so many times and just yell “What do you want us to do? Speak louder! I am tired of “throwing spaghetti at the wall” to see what sticks….can’t you just do this already?” Even in His silence and our exhaustion we continued to take baby steps in faith every day just waiting for Him to open a door real wide so we wouldn’t miss stepping through it. I hope this encourages some of you who are facing your own hurdles to keep “throwing spaghetti at the wall” until something sticks – God is faithful – don’t give up.

Titi is in the states now at Lancaster Bible College studying social work. She has a blog you can follow called https://plantainsplease.wordpress.com/ She still needs support so if you feel led to donate to her college education or her daily living expenses you can donate at http://bit.ly/titischool to our ministry account and the money will get to her. Just write Titi in the memo.