Employment Provided by a Miracle

Stephen - Perth, Scotland

At the end of April 2005 I was made redundant due to the financial situation of the business. I went to many companies, wrote lots of applications and had several interviews, but all doors seemed to close: For weeks I couldn’t even get a simple administrative job, although for many years I had quite a good and exciting management position.

After obtaining some advice I applied for a cleaning job in a hotel, which I immediately got. It wasn’t my dream job, was only part time and very little pay, but I was thankful to finally work again. I kept reminding myself of God’s promise, that “... there is no man that hath left house, or parents, or brethren, or wife, or children, for the kingdom of God's sake, who shall not receive manifold more in this present time, and in the world to come life everlasting.” LUKE 18:29-30. I left my native country, a nice house and a good and secure job for the kingdom of God to be a missionary in Scotland and now I found myself being chased around by the hotel matron and was not really able to supply for my family. The more miserable my job seemed, the more I kept holding unto this promise that God will give me a proper job, which would match my former occupation.

Like many missionaries that have come to a point where they only could survive by faith, I understood that God wants us to claim His promises, fully expecting Him to keep His Word, despite all the negative circumstances. Certainly there are conditions and God wouldn’t pull a rabbit out of the hat when we are lazy or foolish. In my situation I had done all I could do, now I needed a miracle.

A young friend of ours encouraged us, mentioning that even when there is no job, God could create one for me. It seemed so absurd, but are there any limits to our Creator?

Sometime after this I was invited for an interview with a large family business, producing Scottish fabrics and highland wear, which are exported into various countries around the world. I had been at this company 2 years prior, when I came to Scotland and was very impressed by the posh entrance lobby. I looked up saying: “I would love to work here; it would be so funny for me as a foreigner to market traditional Scottish products of a traditional Scottish business to traditional Scotsmen.”

The first interview went well, but someone else was better suited. 3 weeks later I was invited again; this time the owners of the company offered me a well paid job in marketing and organising exhibitions. They had invited no one else, as - believe it or not - they had just created the job for me! I was gobsmacked and excited about this work, but in order to not disappoint them, I pointed out that I had never worked with textiles, never done marketing, nor organised an exhibition before. They knew it, but wanted to have me on board. I kept praising the Lord for this miracle and asked Him to bless this company, which He has.

Love in Christ,

Stephen H. (Perth)