School Supply Distribution Testimony

For the past several years, One By One Ministries has held an annual school supply distribution in Miramba. Every year, we have the privilege of providing children with the supplies they need to begin another school year.

In 2025, we planned to distribute supplies to 384 students.

Then Elijah and I sat down one Saturday morning to finalize our budget.

After running the numbers, we realized we were $750 short.

If we couldn't raise the remaining funds, we would have to cut the distribution in half—from 384 children down to 192. We were discouraged. While we took comfort in believing the Lord had asked us to focus primarily on the Water Project that year, it still felt like we would be letting so many children and parents down.

We prayed together for a few moments and decided we simply had to trust that the Lord knew what He was doing.

I sat down at my computer to write an email explaining the need, but before I could begin, our second-born son, Jasiri—whose name means courageous in Swahili—woke up from his nap. Elijah and I had already planned to visit some longtime family friends, a retired pastor and his wife whom I had known growing up, so I closed my laptop and we left.

We had a wonderful visit, but as we got into the car to leave, it suddenly wouldn't move.

I was trying to stay calm, but inwardly I was struggling. We didn't have enough money to buy school supplies for the children in Miramba, so we certainly didn't have money for a tow truck and repairs an hour and a half from home.

I caught myself worrying and prayed aloud,

"Lord, You are the Great Physician, and our car needs healing. Please help us."

Those around us simply said, "Amen," and we began looking for the problem.

Thankfully, it turned out to be something small. A part had simply come loose and needed to be reattached.

As I walked over to get Joshua, the sweet woman who had been watching him smiled and said,

"The Lord answered your prayer!"

I stopped in my tracks.

In my heart, I had been frustrated, asking the Lord why this had happened at all. Yet here she was, simply trusting in His goodness while I had been questioning it.

Right there, I quietly repented and asked the Lord to make me more like her.

That simple moment probably meant very little to her, but it has stayed with me ever since.

We climbed back into the car and started down the driveway. Just as we reached the road, I saw her running toward us.

I stopped the car.

"Wait!" she said. "I want to write a check for your ministry."

I was stunned.

We hadn't talked about the ministry all afternoon, and I was surprised she even remembered it. I followed her back to the house while she wrote the check and stood talking with her husband.

A few moments later, she came back, handed me the envelope, and I thanked them.

"You don't know what this means to us," I said.

Immediately, her husband broke down in tears.

Again, I was stunned.

We hadn't talked about the burden I had been carrying or the discouragement I had felt over the previous few days, yet somehow he knew.

He looked at me and simply said,

"I know it's hard, hon."

Then he embraced me and prayed,

"Jesus, help her. Help them."

That was one of the very few times in my life that I felt Jesus meet me through the arms of another person.

For as long as I live, I don't think I'll ever forget that moment.

As we drove away, I began weeping.

The day before, I had cried out to the Lord in frustration.

"Why don't we ever have more than enough? Why does it always feel like we're just trying to catch up? Lord, I'm trying to be faithful. Why does it always feel so hard?"

I repented as we drove home.

Then Elijah opened the envelope.

He looked over at me with a smile and said,

"It's for $1,000."

More. Than. Enough.

The tears came all over again—but this time they were tears of gratitude.