From a Horse to a House

This is Doc.  Doc was our favorite horse.  He was the kindest, most gentle horse we had.  Even I, the "animal hater" as my kids call me, loved him.  He was the horse that was the hardest for us to part with when God called us to "sell everything and follow Him."  Many people came to see him and "test ride" him, but no one passed our approval.  Then one day this lady showed up to look at him and the horse trailer we had for sell.

Almost immediately, we felt at ease.  We knew deep down that this was the lady that was suppose to have Doc.  We were heartbroken when she left with the horse trailer, but not Doc.  For weeks, we kept trying to find the right buyer, but no one seemed to be a good fit for him.  We kept thinking and praying for the lady to come back and get him, but we knew that she had found a different horse and that this was one wish we'd have to give up on.  We were almost to the point of trying to figure out where we could keep him until we returned from missions when we received an early morning phone call.

It was her!  She explained to us that as she was sitting having her morning coffee looking out into her pasture, she knew that she had to buy Doc.  She was calling to see if we still had him and if he was still for sale.  She drove over and picked him an hour later.  It was hard to see him go, but we were so happy to know that God had heard our prayer and was continuing to take care of all of our worries.

Fast forward to the Philippines over a year later.  It was April 13th, and I noticed on my calendar that it was Doc's birthday.  I wondered how he was and thought about the family that had bought him.  I smiled as I thought about how we knew from the beginning that that family was suppose to have him and how great God was to work it all out.  Little did I know that God would soon reveal the rest of His plan and purpose for Doc.

Three days later, Wednesday of Holy Week, Travis and I realized that we were out of funds. We had had more people than usual coming for help those first two weeks of April and had unknowingly spent our entire monthly stipend in just two weeks.  We were discussing how we were going to pay our share of the next day's work project and the ct scan that one of our closest friends needed to have.  Plus, we still had lots of people depending on us for food for the rest of the month including our own four kids.  We were kind of in panic mode, when another good friend came over to ask for our help.

Her widowed aunt was being evicted from her home and only had four days to be out of her house.  Our friend told us the story of how the government destroyed her aunt's first home to build the highway.  They gave her a piece of land next to the city jail to build a new one, but being a widow with two children, she was afraid to live next to the jail.  So, she rented some land and build her home.  Now, she was being told that she had to be out by Easter Sunday, so the land owner could build a business.

The good news was that she had land to build a new house on.  The bad news was she had no money to build a new house and neither did we.  With our funds depleted, we told our friend the only thing we could, "We will pray about it and see what God wants us to do."  All evening we kept trying to figure out where we could get the money to build this lady a house, pay for the ct scan, pay for the work project, feed our family and all the other families in our neighborhood that count on us. Key word "we" were trying to figure it out!

We finally decided that the priority was the lady's house.  We knew we had extra in our FMC fund and could request additional money for our regular monthly needs.  And we planned to fundraise for the CT scan once home for the wedding.  So, I sat down at the computer to write a "beg letter" to send out to some of our mission partners (you!) but instead I found a message in my inbox from the lady who bought Doc.  She was writing to let us know that they had sold Doc to a very nice family and really felt like the money should be given to our family.  "Wait? What?"

As I continued to read, I knew that God had already taken care of everything!  Not only was it enough for to build the house, but for the CT scan, the work project, and food for the rest of the month!  The goosebumps began to cover my arms and the tears began to fill my eyes!  How awesome is our God!

And if that wasn't enough... I message her back immediately to tell her that we would be using some of the money to build a house for a widow lady that was just evicted.  She immediately answers me back telling me how she and her husband had tried several times to build a house for someone in need, but how it had never "worked out." They had finally just given it to God and told him to find the person they were to build the house for.  "Are you kidding me?"

Now the goosebumps covered my body and the tears covered my cheeks.  As we frantically emailed back and forth for the next few minutes, I was in total awe of how God works!  We purchased that horse in order to sell it to so that it could be sold to build a house in the Philippines!  We couldn't have come up with a better or more perfect plan! 

From a Horse


















   To a House.








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A home like this one only costs $500 (US dollars) to build.  There are many families here in need of a home.  If you or your group/organization would like to sponsor a home, you can visit our donation page to make an online donation.  Just type Build a Home Project in the comment box.  

Our newest project is Replace a Roof.  Many homes have grass roofs which are easily damaged by heavy rains and have to be replaced often.  We have begun to replace the grass roofs with tin roofs that will keep water out of the house and will last much longer.  This project costs around $200.  You can donate a roof by typing Replace a Roof in the comment box when donating online.

We also have a project called Floors for the Poor.  For just $75, you can help give a family a cement floor in their existing home.  We have already witnessed the benefit of a cement floor in one of the local communities.  The kids are overall healthier since they are not crawling around and playing in the dirt everyday.  Just type Floors for the Poor in the comment box when checking out if you'd like to sponsor a floor.

Visit the Seilhan Family Missions Donation Page to help with any of these projects.