One of our special requests to God as we prepared to return to Chile for our second four year term was that He would give us an American made kitchen stove to take back with us. The Chilean stove we had purchased after first arriving on the field had a tiny oven with no thermostat to control the temperature, nor a window in the door to see what was going on inside. The oven took forever to heat up, and then continued getting hotter and hotter until you turned it off and then it would get cooler and cooler until you turned it back on again. If you waited too long your food was burned. If you opened the door too soon and it was a cake it would fall and be ruined.

There were no prepared foods so all our meals were made from scratch. The oven was used continually and our frustrations were constant. So we asked God to give us a stove with an oven thermostat and a window in the door. Doesn’t God tell us to ask and it will be given to us? Occasionally we would mention the need of a stove as we visited churches to tell about the work in Chile, but to no avail. It was time to return to the field and there was no stove in sight and no money to buy one. We knew of some missionaries who purchased equipment on credit, but we also knew of the financial bind this put them in during their four years on the mission field. Besides, our policy had always been to not go into debt, so we drove from Grand Rapids, Michigan to New York City where we boarded the ship for Chile without a stove. Nor could a stove be shipped to us later because any items that did not accompany us as we entered the country were considered to be imported for commercial gain and the duty then was prohibitive. Only accompanied items were considered to be for personal use. It looked like God had not answered our prayer and we were in for another four years of challenges in the kitchen.

After nearly three weeks aboard ship we were nearing the port of Valparaiso, Chile and the ship’s purser began handing to each passenger a bill based on the square feet of any trunks or crates of theirs that were being brought in the hold of the ship. The mission required that we have $500 set aside to cover those shipping costs. It is important to get that bill settled the day before docking because you could not disembark until it was paid and to get through customs quickly it was important get in the line as quickly as possible. It seemed to me that nearly everybody else had received a bill, so I was concerned. I went to the purser’s office and explained that I had not yet received our freight bill and would like to take care of that detail before docking. He just looked at me and smiled and said, "If you are supposed to have one I am sure you will get it." Since he was the person who made up the bills and passed them out, I knew that he was implying we would not get one. And we didn't. God had miraculously given us the $500 we needed for a stove, but now it was too late to order one. We wondered what the Lord had in mind.
We passed through customs with minimal charges and drove to Santiago, settling into a house on the mission property that served as the Bible Institute and also Summer Camp ground. One day we saw a notice in the newspaper that an American military family was being transferred out of Chile and was selling their things. We excitedly hurried off to the sale because military families bring their appliances from the States and since they are usually only in Chile for a few years their things are usually like new. As we entered the house we headed for the kitchen and found that they had the exact stove we had wanted to bring down with us and wanted $400 for it. That would leave us $100 to spend, so we looked around to see what else was for sale. In another room we noticed an upright freezer for $300. So I went to talk to the man who was in charge of the sale and told him that we would like to buy both the stove and freezer, and could give him a check for $500 U.S. dollars on a USA bank. This looked very appealing to him because he wouldn't have the problem of having to buy U.S. dollars with Chilean pesos. He went to consult with the military family and soon returned and said OK. We were so excited. We had refused to go into debt to buy a stove to take down with us, but God gave us a stove and a freezer for the same $500 and it was already in Chile with no added shipping and customs. God's ways are so marvelous.

When we purchased the freezer we didn't know how important it would be to us. Summer camps were held on the Bible Institute property where we lived, and that very next summer the government declared meat rationing. Meat could only be sold one or two days every other week. With camp we needed meat or bones for soup every day for hungry campers. Having the freezer was a lifesaver since we could buy a supply of meat when it was available and have enough in the freezer until the next time meat was available. God knew we would need a freezer and had it waiting for us along with the stove he had prepared. How faithful God is when we wait for Him rather than rushing into our own ways of doing things. If we had purchased a stove on credit and shipped it down we would not have been scanning the newspapers for a stove and would not have found the freezer that we didn't even know we were going to need.

This story follows the very exciting prayer path God gives us in Mathew 7:7-8.

“Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find;
knock, and it shall be opened unto you:
For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth;
and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.”

There are three steps in the path of prayer.
1. Ask – everyone who asks receives – We asked God and he granted the request. A very specific stove had been granted; we just had to find it.
2. Seek – We shared our need with praying friends, but the stove did not appear. God strengthened our faith with $500 saved in shipping costs, but we still had to keep seeking for the specific stove God had for us (the one that came with a freezer).
3. Knock – Our knock was the offer of $500 for both items and their willingness to accept that amount was God’s confirmation that this was what He had planned for us – beyond what we had even imagined.

The question is, how many answers to my prayers are still not claimed because I failed to take the next steps and in faith seek that answer and then knock to confirm that this was indeed God’s choice for me.