Grieving Missionary Finds New Hope

Kathy lost her mother just one week before she left for the Philippines to serve as a missionary at a jungle orphanage.

“That was hard to leave your mom and have her just be gone and never got to say that goodbye before I boarded that plane.”

Then several months later, she had to return home when she received word that her father was ailing.

“And he was concerned about me and he knew I was going back to the mission field. He says you have to go, you have to go.  He passed that night.”

She had just packed her bags to return to the Philippines when she got a call from the sheriff’s department. Overcome by grief, her brother had taken his life.

“And so I never – I never got to go back. I never got to go back to my heart’s desire to serve and the mission field. I had that time with my family to grieve.”

But now that she wasn’t an active missionary, she lost her financial support. And as a widow for 20 years, she had no other means of income.

“I had to support myself. I had to move into an apartment. You know, I was no longer in the jungle. So I had to get an apartment and pay the utilities, pay the rent and I had no job.”

Kathy found work as a nanny, but it barely covered the bills. She struggled for years and got to the point where she was unable to pay her rent. As she turned to her Bible, she broke down in tears, and cried out to God for just one word of encouragement.

“I was just reading Psalm 68, verse 5, and I am a Father to the fatherless. And I was –I was fatherless. Even though I knew my father and my heavenly Father loved me, it just hit me so hard and I realized yes, He’s there and He’s a defender of the widow. He’s going to take care of all my needs. Not just financial, but everything.”

Then, Kathy turned on The 700 Club.  It was March 16, 2016, and Pat and Terry had just begun praying.

“There is a woman watching right now, Kathy, and you're literally sobbing; you’re so sad. And you don't feel like there is any hope. God is saying, 'I'm going to bless you.’ Receive that blessing and begin to praise Him. Take a garment of praise and give it in exchange for that garment of heaviness that is upon you right now. That heaviness, that sadness, is going to leave you in Jesus' name.”

“And I just put up my hands and I worshiped the Lord. And it was like a burden of weight lifted off of me and I felt God’s presence so sweetly on me.  By the end of the program, I was dancing in my room.”

“Then I got a phone call.  It was from our church secretary and she said, ‘Somebody just dropped by and gave you an envelope.’  I brought it home, I opened it up and it was exactly $278 I needed to pay my rent.”

The following month it happened again and her rent was covered. Kathy continues to work as a nanny and she’s grateful to God not only for meeting her needs but for restoring her joy.

“God’s good and He’s big and He cares about the little things. There’s no mountain that can’t be climbed with God. Because God’s right there.”