CMS missionaries David and Cathie Sandifer–recently arrived in Europe–were looking for housing in the midst of the Coronavirus crisis in 2020. They needed to find somewhere before David began his new work teaching at Tyndale Theological Seminary in Amsterdam. Read on to see how God provided for them at just the right time. 

…how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him” (Matthew 7:11) 

Arriving in Amsterdam, teaching at Tyndale 

First, a bit about our situation: David began teaching in September 2020. He is taking on his other roles at Tyndale, including acting as spiritual advisor to a small group of students. It’s been wonderful getting to know both the students and the faculty here, and we feel deeply privileged to have been called to join this very special community. There are several good English-speaking congregations: we visited one a few weeks ago which had a lake baptism with six young people baptised–four of them had found the church online, on account of Coronavirus! We were so encouraged to see how God is at work here during these unusual times. 

God’s provision of housing 

Recently[1] we shared with our supporters about our need for housing. We were feeling quite stretched about this. Classes were ready to start, and we had really struggled to find anything near Tyndale Seminary. We finally decided that we should be open to being further away from  the seminary, even though it would mean being less connected to the community there. We looked at several houses and eventually found one which would meet our needs within our budget. We had 24 hours to give a decision. But when we got home from that viewing, we had an e-mail inviting us to view a house two blocks from Tyndale. It felt like a miracle–it was closer, it was nicer, it was cheaper! 

When we reflected on this later, we became more and more amazed at how God had worked.  

First, for the home that we almost rented originally, we had requested a viewing for nearly a week earlier. If we had been invited to see it even a day earlier, we probably would have been locked into it before even hearing about the house nearby.  

Not only that, but when we settled on the house closer to campus, we saw how God provided in so many ways. Most Dutch rental homes (strangely) come without appliances or even flooring, but this home has lovely tile floors and kitchen appliances, saving us considerable expense; it also has a small but beautiful garden, something which we barely dared to hope for, and which will be such a blessing, especially during Coronavirus lockdown.  

We wouldn’t normally devote so much space to our personal situation. However, housing was such a basic need on our arrival, and we knew that  many CMS supporters had been praying faithfully on our behalf, so we wanted you to know and be able to rejoice with us!  

Thank you so much for your prayers and support during this time. Once again, we have felt very much ‘carried’ and are so conscious of God working through the prayers of his children.  

CARE 

God’s care for us extends to the smallest details of life. One way to express his care is to pray quite specifically for the daily needs and requests of missionaries —then ask those missionaries how God has answered. 

[1] To subscribe to any Australian CMS missionary’s prayer letter, click here and search under their name.