“Seek ye first the Kingdom of God … and all these things shall be added unto you” (Mt. 6:33). What a wonderful promise! And how does one “seek” the Kingdom of God? By keeping your eyes ever upward toward Heaven, looking to Him in everything, like the fowls of the air and the lilies in the field. George Muller understood that simple truth, and look how he was blessed. God took care of him, as he took care of God’s Kingdom here on earth!

During our 50 years of missionary service, the Lord has never failed to supply our every need “according to His riches in glory” (Phil. 4:19), as He “gave us each day, our daily bread” (Mt. 6:11). It was not always so clear exactly how He was going to do it, as we did not have regular support from a home church or mission society. But His way was to supply what we needed when we needed it. This was also one way to keep us always looking to Him, and not leaning on the arm of the flesh (2 Chr. 32:8). But one thing we knew for sure: month after month, somehow, our budget would be met: rent and bills would be paid (and on time!), food would be on the table, and everyone’s needs would be met. “Living by faith” for us meant just that – we were secure in our trust that through God’s wonderful bounty and care, He would take care of us in every way! We had to do our part, and “Cast our burden on the Lord”, and then He did His part to “sustain us” (Ps. 55:22, 1 Pt. 5:7). What a freedom it was to “take no [anxious] thought for the morrow” or worry about things like “what shall we eat? what shall we drink? or, wherewithal shall we be clothed?” (Mt. 6:19-34 – one of our favorite Bible passages, from Jesus’ own discipleship basic-training handbook). We would just channel all of our energies into His work in the field (Mt. 9:37), and then be “content with such things as we had” (Heb. 13:5) — never too much or too little. The amazing thing that we have come to realize now that we have gotten “older”, is that God’s plan and supply do not change with age. No matter how old we are, as we continue to “delight ourselves in the Lord”, He continues to give us “the desires of our heart” (Ps. 37:4)

Occasionally when people would hear how we lived, the question would come up about “retirement”. “What are you going to do when you get old?” they would ask. “How are you going to live once you’ve retired?” Our confidence is based both on His Word that cannot fail, and also on “the record” of how He has taken such excellent care of us so far. And we know that as we walk in His favor, things are just going to get better and better! As we grow older and our bodies weaken, we seem to be coming even more heavenly minded, and we are finding that we can actually accomplish more in the spirit now through prayer and intercession – doing things that require more brain than brawn. So age is turning out to actually be a benefit, not a burden! In fact, many if not most of the world’s most famous and successful people did not reach their pinnacle of success until they were in their 60’s, 70’s, and sometimes even 80’s. My mother worked as the accounts manager in a doctor’s office until she was 90, and only “retired” because the doctor who was 30 years younger than she was retiring! The more we dig into His Word and understand our authority and who we are in Christ, the more of the Kingdom of God we are able to manifest in our lives as we walk in His favor!

Once while on a visit to the States, my mother was talking to a neighbor in the grocery store and mentioned that I would soon be returning to my mission in Bosnia. The neighbor said she had recently been purging her cupboards and had lots of good quality baby clothes that she would like to send back with me. Some weeks later, an anonymous check showed up in my mother’s mailbox. It turned out to be from the neighbor’s daughter, who along with her husband then became monthly donors to our mission. These dear folks have helped us now for over 30 years and continue to do so, even adding an annual Christmas gift. Last month we heard that the husband had been given a significant raise at his work, and so they were increasing the amount of their monthly support. God blesses those who give generously and cheerfully (Luke 6:38).

Ironically, as we have grown older, we have also seen an increasing progression of amazing miracles in the form of windfall-types of supply that came directly from the Lord with little or no “effort” on our part.

1) The first instance of this was in the form of an inheritance that came from Anna’s father. He had been a middle-class worker with a foreman’s job in a factory all his life, spending little on himself, and preferring to save in long-term high interest bank accounts. We had no idea before his passing what sort of inheritance would be coming to us, and were quite amazed when that time came to see that it was much more than we expected, enabling us to help other missions around the world while at the same time supporting our ever-growing work in the war-torn republics of the former Yugoslavia as we established God’s Kingdom on earth by showing his Love to the people of those lands.

2) Sometimes God’s blessings would come in the form of humanitarian aid that was so bountiful that we had a hard time distributing it all to those who needed it most! We have always been against accumulating “stuff”, as that can really slow you down! Whatever is not absolutely necessary to getting out the message of the Kingdom can become a hindrance to His work.

3) While in Kosovo, Anna got a letter from one of her cousins whom she had not seen for many years. He was writing to inform her that one of their uncles had recently died and a portion of his estate had been designated to Anna. This was not a very large sum, but was sufficient to “take the pressure off” financially for some time, and allowed us to do more world-changing and love-oriented types of ministries without having to worry much about funding.

4) Another time we were working together with one of the peace-keeping contingents from NATO on humanitarian projects in Kosovo, when one of our military friends came up to us and said their chaplain’s tour of duty was ending and that he was going home soon and did not know what to do with the collections that he had taken up each Sunday from the soldiers during his 6 month tour of duty in Kosovo. He was asking our friend if he knew of a worthy charity to which he could donate this money. Our friend mentioned us, and the chaplain gave him an envelope with several thousand Euros in it! And it wasn’t always money the Lord poured down on us.

5) For our children’s programs in Kosovo the Lord supplied via a UN grant everything we needed for our shows in schools, kindergartens, and institutions including a top of the line electric guitar, a complete sound system, a power generator, and a video camera to document our work.

6) A Christian businessman who owned a military PX in Kosovo had so much extra inventory that he donated pallets of brand new coats and hats, t-shirts and other clothing that he couldn’t sell, so we could distribute it all to the poor and needy! We had such an abundance that we had ask other Christian aid workers to help us give it all out. He also gave us a monthly donation for several years after that.

7) When we needed a van to carry the large amounts of humanitarian aid that the Lord was supplying, we started to visualize that van sitting outside our apartment. And in just a few months, the money for that van had been donated, along with enough to build it out as a camper so we could use it on the road during our various mission trips.

8) After having received some very sad news, I realized that my older brother, who was the one who had led me to the Lord in the mid-70’s, had tragically died in a car accident in France. I knew he had gone on to his Heavenly reward, which is the consolation of the Christian, but still this was of course devastating news. Several weeks later I heard from my sister-in-law that according to French law, the insurance of the person responsible for the fatal crash would be awarding compensation to each of the surviving siblings.

9) When my mother, who faithfully supported us for over 30 years with a monthly gift passed, her final gift to us via a moderate inheritance was enough to upgrade our camper to a newer, more comfortable model.

10) Living in a Scandinavian country with a still functioning social welfare system, Anna and I are both receiving a minimal but helpful pension.

So, as you can see, the Lord has been more than faithful to provide for us all these years through a variety of ways, but what we are most thankful for is that we have been able to serve the God of Heaven, who gives His children power for the hour and everything needed to reap the blessing of being a help to others! Multitudes have been fed both spiritually and physically — healed from sickness and poverty!

It’s important to note that all the time we have been living by faith, we were making sure to set aside a percentage of our income to send as tithes and offerings, helping other needy situations around the world. It is a special blessing to be able to share the Lord’s bounty with others. The Lord’s financial plan is so amazing: “He that soweth bountifully, shall reap also bountifully”. (2 Cor. 9:6-7)

Even though we are now technically at the “retirement age”, we have not yet “finished our course” and the “time of our departure” has not yet come (see 2 Tim. 4:6-7). We are still building our mansions in Heaven and adding to our Heavenly Kingdom accounts. You just can’t out-give God, and although it may sound like a cliché after so many years, it nevertheless remains true to those who are willing to step out and put Him to the test.