Baxter and I serve with an organization called GLOW International. We primarily serve the needy in Honduras. It is a joy to work together with friends and family. But that doesn’t mean that everything is easy.

In 2019, Samaritan’s Feet contacted us. They are a ministry dedicated to giving shoes to those who have no shoes or those in desperate need of new shoes. In third-world countries, going barefoot means parasites and disease. Getting feet into shoes translates into improved health for those recipients.

Samaratian’s Feet was intending to donate 40,000 pairs of shoes. For a new ministry, this was huge! We had begun the process of becoming a non-profit organization in Honduras in order to receive donations such as this, tax-exempt. We were a non-profit in the US, however, Honduras required that we be a non-profit there also. It made sense.

While we were in the process of becoming a non-profit in Honduras, COVID descended on the world. The Honduran government shut down. All our legal papers had been submitted…were on some government desk…waiting for the “golden seal of approval”. We had begun this process in January.

The shoes arrived in Honduras in May. They sat in storage on the docks…we were unable to receive them. While they were sitting there, we were being charged $115 per day. That’s pretty steep for a small organization like us. We made calls daily to anyone we heard could possibly help, but to no avail. The bill kept growing.

In October, we received notice that we would be allowed a 30% discount toward the fee we owed for the shoes being stored at the dock. While this was certainly helpful and much appreciated, we were still looking at $12,070! Samaritans Feet donated $5000 to help pay the bill. But in the meantime, we learned another agency is involved and we owed them $10,000! Let me once again stress we were a small organization at that time. While these amounts might be small to some, they looked “Goliath” in size to us.

So we talked. It was difficult to believe God had provided these shoes and would not provide the money we now needed. So we decided to “Give Him a minute”.

GLOW is an organization that makes decisions based on need and God’s direction. Prayer is always our guide. We have learned that Abba God does answer and in mighty ways, unexpected ways. So we prayed. Events came to a head on a Thursday. We decided to wait until Monday and see what God might do. I told Maria that I believed sometimes Abba God “needs a minute” to get circumstances all lined up to answer our prayers. We get impatient and think He has said “No” or isn’t going to answer. But in actuality, He is preparing circumstances in such a way that we will see what looks to us, a miracle.

By the end of the day, we had heard from people who just “felt compelled” to send us a donation. Many of them, large. By Monday, Abba had sent GLOW enough funds to make the payment…but what about that other entity? The one we owed $10,000? 

We were told they might reduce the bill by half or less, but there was no way the whole amount would be forgiven. The proprietor called Maria and talked to her. After this conversation, he forgave the whole $10,000! Once again, we were told this never happens.

I tell this today because I keep hearing how God has not answered prayers. This is only one story of many I could tell. God does answer. He doesn’t answer in a time frame we might demand. He doesn’t answer with the answer we demanded. But this I know and can confidently say, He always answers for our good and His glory. It is not a “pat answer”. It is not given without experience. It is given from an older Believer who had to experience this to really mean it when I say it. Trusting His answers is bringing great peace to my life.

So, dear ones, “Give Him a Minute”. He is orchestrating circumstances to bring you His best…and you can see His Glory.