We have been without a van for some time now. We were planning on buying a new (used) one with some of our tax return money and then selling our 4runner to cover the rest of the cost.

 

So I started looking for a van... I found one on craigslist that was somewhat under-priced [so I] called the man.  I asked him if I could come by after church on Sunday around 3:00 to look at it. He said that would work out good because he goes to church on Sunday too.

 

So after church my Dad, [husband], all the kids and I drove to this man's house. We drove in his driveway just as he was getting home. As we started to walk toward the van my Dad noticed a fish sticker on the back of the van and asked. “Are you a Christian?” He replies, "Yes I'm a former Muslim but have been a Christian for the last 10 years..."

 

Dad said "we are too" the guy said "praise God that’s great, I knew when I was talking to you on the phone that you were.  I just sensed it."  Dad asked where he was from.  He said he was from Iraq area, and he had been living in the USA for several years.  But his father, wife and children who are also in the USA are moving back this month. He is leaving in March with 3 other pastors and a few nurses to go to Egypt on a mission trip as the translator to the Muslim people.

 
This man was on fire for God, and as we talked with him you could feel the excitement and the presence of God in the air.

 
We walked to the van and start looking at it.  He said "I want to be up front with you on this car.  I own a towing company, and this van was in a small accident and has a total reconstruct title. I had towed it to my lot and after 90 days the insurance company decided to sign off on it. So I have no money into the car.  My wife has been driving it for the last 6 months with no problems but the  driver side door dose stick a little and needs to be fixed. Like I said I have no money into this car so you tell me if you like it and what you want to pay for it.

 
[We] decided to take it for a test drive and left Dad and the kids there. Ben asked me what I thought.  I said I like the guy a lot.  He agreed with me and asked what I thought about the van.  I said the reconstructed title doesn’t bother me, we are just going to drive it until it dies like the last one anyways. The door does bother me some...I wouldn't want to pay more that $4,200 for it.  Ben said what ever you think.  So we went back to the house.
Dad had been talking to this man about the Lord the whole time we had been gone.  We got back and he asked us what we thought .  I told him that the door thing bothered me some. He asked how much it would take to fix the door, and \he would take it off the price.  I told him I didn't know.  He said, “Well I just want to say that I did have another man look at it yesterday he said that on Monday he would go try to get a loan from the bank to buy it. I told him to call me before he leaves for the bank because I have others looking at it on Sunday. I feel like this is right and this man ( my dad) has ministered to my heart. so if you want it you tell me how much and you can have it.”

I decided I was going to resist my urge to be cheap because he was a man of God that I liked a lot and I offered him $4,400 for the van. He reached over and put his hand on my shoulder and said" how about $4,200?"  I smiled that was what I was thinking in the car when I was driving it. 

 

Great, I said, we will take it. I don't have the cash on me I will have to come back tomorrow.  The man said you write me a check and you can take it home now, I trust you.  So I did...as I walked over to give him the check I remembered that I had a few of [our church's worship] CD's in the van I had just bought that Sunday. I felt like I should give him one so I did.  He said "thank you.....I want you to know not one penny of this money is going into my pocket all of this money is going to the mission field if Egypt.  He signed the title and gave me the keys. We prayed for this man before we left. That God would protect him in Egypt and use him in a mighty way...

We all got in our cars and drove off.  I thought how awesome is it that God blesses me with a new van at a price we could of never gotten otherwise, and blesses this man and His kingdom at the same time.  Not only did He bless me with a van, but with the money I spent I got to give into His Kingdom. A double blessing.  God is so good to me.  That was truly a divine appointment.

I started to cry in the car as I was driving it because God's presence was so there.

 
This van might have a few small scratches and might not have all the bells and whistles but God gave me this van and I know this car will be a blessing to my family and will last a long time..

 

[My husband] called me as I was driving and said he was surprised that I made a decision so fast.  Normally I take a long time to decide something.  I told him, "God was in it that was a divine appointment and if God is in it, I move.. That’s why I married you.

Pastor said on Sunday that he believes that [the church's songs]ng on the CD was going to be played in the nations... and it will be.. It will be played in Egypt and Iraq.. :)