When God Paid a Big Bill

What does your water bill usually cost your family? It can vary from home to home, and of course it would be more for a church, school, or hospital.

But when leaders from the Amanuma Seventh-day Adventist Church in Tokyo, Japan, opened their bill and discovered that it was double what it had been the month before, it was a total shock!

So church leaders contacted the water company and found out that a burst underground pipe was to blame. The pipe was unfixable, and the church was advised to build an aboveground water pipe. The cost: 7 million yen (54,812 euros, US$70,000, 4,368,750 rupees, etc.—you get the picture). No one had that kind of money!

What could they do? They already had many large expenses for other church projects. It was a stressful time indeed.

So they decided to pray about the water pipe. Immediately after the prayer, the church’s associate pastor went to his office on the campus of Tokyo Adventist Hospital. There on his desk he discovered 3 million yen in cash! Where had it come from?

The next Sabbath the situation about the water pipe was announced to the congregation. The associate pastor shared about the miraculous money that had appeared on his desk, and asked for more contributions.

Later, when the offering was collected, a surprise was waiting in the collection plate: an envelope containing 1 million yen! Again, who could have done that? Church leaders soon figured out who had put that money in the plate, and wanted to make sure that person knew what they had done. Again, that was a lot of money!

A kind woman told them something miraculous. “I had a dream last night,” she said. “In the dream someone told me to make a donation to a Christian church. I’m not a Christian, and I don’t know any Christian churches. So I looked for a Christian church, and I found yours.”

After that Sabbath, the kind woman was never seen again. And church leaders never learned who gave them the 3-million-yen donation. Through such miracles the church was able to raise the money they needed for the water pipe, and other important expenses too.

Who could have done all that for this church in need? We know who. The same One who will always meet our needs too!

(Reprinted and adapted with permission)

*Bible texts credited to ESV are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright ©2001 by Crossways Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights rerserved.

Bible Treasure

“And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus”

(Phil. 4:19, ESV).*

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Hearing stories from others about the ways God has taken care of them is a powerful way to build faith. We’d love to hear your story! God cares about all our needs, big or small. If you have something to share, please e-mail us at this address: kidsview@adventistreview.org. If we get enough stories, you may see yours here in these pages in an upcoming edition of Adventist World!