Christian Women Online

It was an evening in December 1977 just days before Christmas, when the phone rang.  I was attending to our three young children, so my husband answered it.

At the other end, was the somewhat urgent voice of his father.

“I’ve just got out of the shower and HAD to ring you.  I believe God is saying you aren’t to sign any binding contracts.  He wants me to remind you about your commitment to go to Bible College.  It’s been so strong, I just had to ring you straight away.”

It was a very timely phone call.  Just two months earlier, some complete strangers had given us the opportunity to test a franchise business.  It was in the education arena, and we were able to test it with no obligation.  We were also given use of all equipment for nothing and there was no restriction on how much we could earn while in the testing phase.

The business was proving itself to be quite lucrative and we were, at the time of my father-in-law’s phone call, discussing committing ourselves contractually.   We had even dreamed of the new car we would purchase for cash, and the home we would buy in the near future.

As much as our dreams were enticing, we wanted to be really sure that God was in it.  We were certainly aware that just a few years earlier we had felt called to Bible College, and had made plans to go to the USA for a four year course.  However, the needed funds never eventuated and our plans were put on hold.

Now, it seemed that God was pulling those plans from the shelf and sticking them firmly in front of us.  There could be no mistaking it.  God was reviving the call to Bible College.

Later that evening, after the children were asleep, Chris and I had the opportunity to talk about it.  His father lived a day’s drive away from us, and knew very little of the business we were involved in.  He certainly had no idea of the lucrative deal we were considering entering, and the indecision we had been battling for a few days.

We were therefore confident that he really had heard from God and our decision suddenly seemed easy.  We were to go to Bible College - not in the USA this time, but in New Zealand.  The peace we both had about that decision was clear witness to us that this was indeed God’s path for us.

The next day, we rang the owners of the business and told them we wouldn’t be buying a franchise.  We expected them to be fairly negative toward us, but instead, told us we could keep using the equipment and running the business until we left for college!

What a blessing!

It seemed that this time, the funds needed for Bible College were rolling in with little effort on our part.  There were still eight weeks before we needed to leave.  Our business was going along nicely, with classes for January and early February already filling, so our expectation was that we should have all the money we needed for college, and some to spare.

However, there were a few setbacks, and just three weeks before we were to leave the country, we were not only short on needed funds, but didn’t have enough students booked to cover the short fall.

At that time, we had another phone call.

This time it was from our Pastor.  He sounded a little annoyed and got straight to the point.

“Are you going to Bible College or not?” he demanded.  ”Trudi has just rung me wanting to know.”

Chris was shocked by the question.  His mind whirled with a dozen thoughts all at once.  Of course we were going to Bible College!  Everything we had been doing over the previous five weeks was with that outcome in mind.   We had sent in our application about 12 days earlier - plenty of time for it to have arrived.  Though we hadn’t heard whether our application had been accepted, previous communication between our Pastor and the College had led us to expect that we would be.  Why would they ring to ask us if we were coming?  What had gone wrong?

“You need to ring them with an answer straight away,” our Pastor continued.

We had never made an international phone call before.  In fact, we had never spoken on an international call, so the whole process was a mystery to us.  The prospect rather excited us though.  We’d be speaking to someone outside Australia … by phone!

However, the excitement was tempered by the nervousness we felt as we puzzled over the question we were asked to answer.

As we searched the phone directory for information about how to make an international call, we discussed the issue.

“I know!” Chris suddenly said.  “When we filled out our application, we had to state whether we had all the funds needed to cover our expenses.  We didn’t, so we wrote ‘no’.  They’ve seen that we don’t have the funds, so want to know whether we really are going to get there….  That’s got to be it!” he determined.

Thus ensued a wrestle in his mind.  He was aware that if we told them we were definitely coming but didn’t get the funds, we would be responsible for someone else missing out on a place at college.  However, he was also aware that he didn’t want to say we weren’t coming, then find we had enough to get there.

Then, while caught between indecision and an awareness that he needed to respond definitively to the question, he remembered how we had come to this place.  How we had felt called to College a few years ago.  His father’s phone call just 5 weeks earlier.  The opportunity to test the franchise business - an opportunity we didn’t look for, and which no-one else received - and how it had been such a financial blessing.  He remembered the witness of our own spirits when his Dad reminded him of the call to Bible College and how our double-mindedness had melted away when we made the decision to go to College the following February.

Chris mustered his courage, confident that God really wanted us to attend College in February.  He would step out and tell them we were coming, and believe that God would supply all the money we needed.

We finally found the information we needed to phone internationally and Chris nervously dialled the number our Pastor had given us.  All I could do was sit, almost holding my breath as I watched and listened.

My husband suddenly sprang into action.  “Hello.”  He yelled into the phone - after all, the college was across the ocean, so he figured he needed to speak very loudly to be heard!

“Can I speak to Trudi Benson please?”  There was a lot of noise at the other end of the line, so it was a little hard for Chris to hear - which only confirmed his need to speak very loudly.

“Yeah.  I’ll have to find her.  I don’t know where she is right now.”

We were left waiting for several minutes - enough time to determine that the noise at the other end was the clatter of cutlery and of a lot of people speaking all at once.

As we waited, our own tension was palpable.  We felt we were taking a huge step of faith in saying we were coming to college even though we didn’t have the necessary funds yet.  We didn’t speak much.  We were too nervous for that.

“Hello, Trudi here,” came a voice from the other end.  The noise of the dining room had ceased, so Chris figured he’d been switched across to another phone.

“Hello.”  He yelled again, wanting to make sure that Trudi heard him very plainly.

“It’s Chris Field here.  You want to know if Susan and I are coming to College this month.”  He paused very briefly and swallowed.  His whole body was tense as he prepared himself to take the leap of faith.

“Yes.  We ARE coming!”

“I know,” replied Trudi calmly.  “Your application just arrived in the mail a few minutes ago.”  She went on to explain that some weeks earlier she had received word from our Pastor that we would be coming, but hadn’t received our formal application.  With only three weeks before College began, she was wondering if we had changed our minds.

“Your application is sitting right here on my desk,” she continued, “so everything is under control.”

The phone call finished quickly, and Chris sank into a chair.

Their enquiry had nothing to do with our lack of funds!  For some reason our application had taken more than twice as long as expected to arrive.  What’s more, it arrived just minutes before our phone call.

“Wow!” exclaimed Chris.  “Just think.  If we’d told her we weren’t coming, she might have thought it strange but thrown our application away.  We would never have known that the issue was all about a registration that went AWOL for a while and that it had nothing to do with our lack of funds.  I think God has used this to test our faith.”

After that, registrations for the last two weeks of our educational course increased.  It was all a flurry of activity as we moved out of our rented home, stored our furniture, ran the business, packed for time away overseas, and cared for our children.

The big day finally arrived.  We were flying to New Zealand that afternoon.  I still clearly remember standing in the yard of my parent’s property as family members milled around saying their goodbyes.  It was 1978 and going overseas - even the relatively short flight to New Zealand - was still a pretty big deal.  The tone was a little sombre as we all felt impacted by the future unknown.  I turned to say a final farewell to my brother-in-law and after a quiet hug, he said, “I don’t know why we’re all feeling like this.  After all, you’re only going to be away for five months.”

As soon as he finished speaking, I heard five words quietly whispered inside of me.  “Two years - not five months.”

And so it was.  Our ‘five months’ away turned into a wonderful 27 months in New Zealand.  By the time we returned to Australia, our three young boys even sounded like Kiwis!