Deus Providebit

Recently, we were blessed to meet with a bishop who was born in another country and came to the US as a refugee at the age of nine. He shared his journey with us, his discernment, life as a priest, and how God led him to the episcopate. As he pondered and prayed on the episcopal motto he would choose, he was led to, “God will provide.” On the way to the airport to catch the plane that would take him to his new archdiocese for the announcement at a press conference there, he caught sight of a bumper sticker. It read: Deus Providebit, which is Latin for “God will provide.” The Lord gave him this amazing confirmation!

As a missionary family, time and time again, we can attest to the countless ways that God provides for us. FMC missionaries experience this day in and day out. God will provide. There is no other way in mission than to trust in His providence, every second of every day. In Isaiah 55:8, we read: “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.”

This summer, we will complete ten years of serving as a family on mission with FMC. Back in 2013, we were a family of four living in Asia, barely practicing our Catholic faith and living a rough life. If you said to us then, “You’ll be living as a foreign missionary family in the USA and you’ll have seven children,” we may have called you completely bonkers.

God had a plan “far beyond anything we could imagine,” even in our wildest dreams. In 2014, through a sheer miracle, we met an older couple on a family getaway who invited us to a retreat led by Family Missions Company at that same location. They were complete strangers and, to be honest, while we first tried to avoid them, they persisted, and an exciting conversation ensued. That retreat, entitled Into the Deep, turned our lives around.

God had a plan “far beyond anything we could imagine,” even in our wildest dreams.

Jesus invited us to drop our nets, follow HIM and become fishers of men. We said ‘yes,’ and like Mary, we were wondering in our hearts, “How can this be?” We could not afford this. There was no way we would have the finances needed to even start this adventure. Nevertheless, we serve a generous God.

The angel Gabriel states in Luke 1:37, “For nothing will be impossible for God.” Not only did the Lord make it possible for us to travel to Louisiana for missionary training, but He has provided for us innumerable times over the past ten years. Our co-founder, Mr. Frank Summers often said, “Our God is a real God, who does real things for real people in the real world!”

Last year on March 19, 2024, on the feast day of St. Joseph, our lawyer from Denver called us. The first words out of his mouth were, “Mother Cabrini came through for you guys!” We paused, and he continued, “Your religious green cards have been approved. It’s a miracle!”

It absolutely is a tremendous miracle. God provided for us in a mighty way. We started this process in 2019, and with the pandemic and political changes, we endured several delays. Still today, there is a humongous backlog impacting a large diverse group of foreign-born religious workers in the US. Please pray for all those affected.

We are inspired to share what the Lord has done for us, just as the Lord commanded the Iraelites:

“Then Joshua summoned the twelve men from the Israelites, whom he had appointed, one from each tribe. Joshua said to them, ‘Pass on before the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan, and each of you take up a stone on his shoulder, one for each of the tribes of the Israelites, so that this may be a sign among you. When your children ask in time to come, ‘What do those stones mean to you?” then you shall tell them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off in front of the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it crossed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. So these stones shall be to the Israelites a memorial forever’” (Joshua 4:4-7).

We constantly remind our children of the wonderful ways God is working in our lives, especially after the Lord chose us, and called us to follow Him.

As 1 Peter 2:9 exhorts us, “You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that you may announce the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”

Another example of God’s amazing generosity and providence happened recently. One of our children was suffering with a long, drawn-out health issue due to a nasal obstruction caused by allergies and sinus inflammation. One of our close friends and a brother in Christ examined and treated the condition, without any charge. Still, the infection and the nasal obstruction persisted, and he suggested we take our child to see a specialist. This ENT doctor, another brother in the Lord, offered to examine and diagnose the condition which included special and costly medical imaging, again without charge. Praise God, the condition is not serious, and he prescribed a course of medication to treat the infection and swelling.

As our family discerns new avenues in this Jubilee Year of Hope, we are excited for what the Holy Spirit has in store for us as we continue to follow Jesus’ command, “To go make fishers of men,” knowing full well that God will provide for us.