Joesph and Elle

My dad also knew Joseph, a 35 Penangite thru his workplace in Phuket. I witnessed his marriage in Ta Kua Pa to Elle, a young Thai believer of the same age as me. Truly a beautiful one in a small & simple Hope of God Church.

Elle had a special place in my mom's heart that their relationship became mom & daughter, while Joseph & my dad saling membantu. And so they started off their simple lifes together but passionately serving God.

When I met them last Tuesday, what a transformation!

Elle is so fluent in English & even sings in church in English. She's even picking some Mandarin from Joseph! She has grown so much in the knowledge of the Word as she deligently seeks out her Thai-Eng bible. Really impressive but nothing compared with her prayer & faith...come to it later.

For Joseph,who is in the construction business, God has really prospered his business. Within his company, he noted how God began to remove his superiors one-by-one & allowed him to rise up the ladder.Also in his own biz, God is opening so many opportunities. He bought a Mazda last year & recently bought a single storey 4-room bungalow. His secret to success?

Both Joseph&Elle are modern day George Mullers, Rees Howell & alikes. What's in common? A big heart to GIVE, a steady unshakable FAITH & TRUST in God and PRAYER. Both Muller & Howell relied totally on God's provision, asking from no man money but only thru prayer. The money ammounting to millions of pounds (£) was not for personal gain but for orphanages, institutions & missions.

I mentioned that Joseph & Elle purchased a car & a house. Until today they are still paying the loans. But few months back God put in their hearts a burden to replace their pastor's old pickup with a car. After prayer & thought (which of course, include comtemplation) they decided to buy an exact same car. Their car was RM85k last year. At the time of the 2nd purchase, a Toyota Vois was RM55k & their Mazda with new features was RM89k.
Why not the Vois?
"We're not going to buy a lower-class car for God"
Why not buy for yourself the new one & give yours to the church?
"We're not going to give God 2nd hand"
Speechless...

It was surprisingly easy for the financial approval of the 2nd Mazda eventhough the loans they had to cover every month was quite an amount. Even the car arrived earlier than expected.

But when the time came for down payment, Joseph admitted that he didn't know how that cheque would be cleared. But God provided. Again, month after month, cheques had to be written for the loans. They admitted it was a struggle mentally. Many times they cried before God in prayer. During Christmas they were deficit of RM6000- sad Christmas, they said. But God never failed to see them thru. Even Joseph is perplexed! (He really budgets & plans his finances).

God has blessed them admist the struggles. They are not rich as viewed from the world; but God IS, and they are just channels for God to release His riches to others (as they said).

Recently, 2 more burdens:
(i) replace Ta Kua Pa's pastor's pickup ( from Phuket after the new Mazda arrived. Was previously using a motorbike to travel around Phuket and PhangNga. Trust me, its far)
(ii) Contribute 3/5 out of RM5mil needed for church building found...

Though they sacrificed luxury, God still blessed them with a comfortable home and occasions to enjoy good food. They have blessed others including my parents.

When I was reading about Muller and Howell (in the 18th and 19th century), I wondered how it could be true esp today...until I see this young couple...truly amazing. Oh ya, one quote from Elle that impressed my mom, "Thank God for giving Jospeh as my husband and giving me to Joseph as his wife".

So is my account of the 3 parties I met during my first and second day in Phuket.