“Rachel, I hate to be the one to tell you this, but you must get out of here within the week.” I nodded slightly as I looked out the window at my beautiful city. Dear Sebastian, trying ever so hard to be helpful and yet as frustrated as I was with German bureaucracy. “There must be a way to get around this!” he cried out fitfully. But in my heart I knew there was only one way. “If God wants it he has to make it” I said, my English becoming more germanly every day. But in my heart I was far less hopeful. It seemed as if everything was caving in on me. All of my dreams that I had so thought were God’s as well, were coming to naught. The thing that bothered me most was that I had so loudly proclaimed from the beginning that God had sent me here and that God would give me a job and a house and a visa! Practically half of the church and another quarter of Germany seemed to know my dilemma. It was hard enough believing that God had failed me but for other people to watch me face plant was just too much. And yet somewhere deep inside I heard a voice say “Wait.”


It was that same day that I had received a phone call from a desperate Australian man. His wife had cancer and apparently the only place on earth that was even experimenting with treatments for her particular kind was in Wuerzburg. She had been given a death sentence a week before he quickly explained to me but he wouldn’t take it. Looking through everything he could, desperately trying to find something to help, he discovered through a Californian friend about a trial here in Germany that just might accept her as a candidate. He called the doctors immediately but they were cautious and not entirely hopeful, there were so many factors to take in. After jumping through various hoops and going over her entire medical history, the Germans decided that she would be a perfect candidate for the trial. There was only one more problem; she had to get to Germany. The airline from Australia refused to take her onboard if she had even the slightest temperature owing to the liability of her death on the aircraft. The day of the flight they were very tense. Would she be able to make this crucial flight or would she be left to die quietly in Australia? They made it by about one degree. The flight was extremely tiresome and by the time they reached Germany she had to be admitted immediately to the hospital. They were to start this new life-giving treatment on Monday. And so to the final character, they were the proud new owners of a baby girl, Elki. Before Leukemia had ever become an issue in their life, they had decided to have a baby and now she, not quite one and a half, had made the trip half way across the world with her mum and dad. Deborah, the grandma had also come but really needed to be with her daughter as well as her granddaughter. Could I help take care of the baby? I said quickly that I had some visa issues at the moment but I would try my best to take care of her while I could and then see if I could find someone else to take my place if I had to leave the country. And as I sat there hearing this incredible story of overcoming difficulties while in the midst of my own now seemingly small trial, I felt Jesus’ presence so strongly and the words “This is the job you were waiting for Rachel. Don’t be afraid to take it.” Andy (el padre) offered me a daily charge for looking after her, I agreed and it was only as I left I realized it was exactly the amount of money I needed for a work visa. God certainly is a God of miracles I thought and phew just in the nic of time! But…..the story was far from ended.