With the help of the brothers and sisters, Lily and I found an apartment today and are scheduled to move in at 12 noon on April 14th. The landlord is willing to sign a tenant accommodation confirmation letter. Brother Xie’s family is continuing to look for a rental place in faith, and the three students have also begun to look at apartments according to the information we’ve provided to them.
Since arriving in Leipzig, we have been cared for and cherished by the brothers and sisters here. With the influx of refugees into Leipzig, accommodations here, like in other big German cities, have become increasingly limited and expensive for renters. For us, we really do not know what prices and locations are suitable and permitted by the Lord. From cold rents of 450 euros to warm rents of 1300 euros, we are all trying to figure it out.
But after fellowship with the brothers, we began to have some understanding of the prices and locations, and more importantly, after we fellowshipped with the brothers, they brought us to the Lord. Like Samuel, our prayer before the Lord this week was, “Lord, your servant is listening." Samuel’s response to God, taking care of God’s principles, this week also doubled for all of us to learn and experience.
The night before, I felt unhappy with the Lord regarding our situation in trying to find an apartment and felt uncomfortable and couldn’t do anything. So, I went to the bathroom to speak to the Lord. I realized that I was already complaining and murmuring, so I very reluctantly repented and confessed to the Lord…
The Lord is truly the Lord. I woke up this morning and as I was having my morning time with the Lord, I came upon Psalm 37:7.
“Be still before Jehovah, and wait for Him; / Do not be incensed because of him who enjoys prosperity on his way, / Because of the man who performs his evil schemes."
May the word of God shine in my heart and be my assurance and comfort. May His words illuminate me again and lead me to repent and confess. May I continue to keep looking and waiting on You.
Sister Huang called at around 11 o’clock this morning. She helped us find an apartment next to the train station, but offered a warm rent of 1,200 euros a month. The apartment could be viewed at 1:30 pm. Did we want to see the place? After waiting for a feeling inside, we thought since we’re looking, let’s go and see it. Along the way, the three of us kept praying to the Lord, telling Him what we needed, the length of the contract, the rental price, the living and working environment, the landlord confirmation letter, and the check-in time… we prayed all to Him until we pressed the doorbell. The moment before pressing the doorbell, I was really looking forward for the experience of seeing the apartment, but I really didn’t have any hope that we could rent this place. But I still told the Lord about our needs, and also said to the Lord: “Even if after seeing the apartment and we feel that everything is fit for us, we still feel the price of 1,200 euros is too high. So, Lord, if the price is pleasing to You and from You, please show us so that we can get a clear answer from You!"
There is nothing bad to point out about the apartment itself. It is already better than the gymnasium and elementary school we had experienced in the past, and Sister Huang had already helped us coordinate. When the landlord asked about our background and found out we came from Ukraine, his eyes widened. He looked at us and said, “Well, you can just come, sign a contract for half a year, a year, or as long as you want. As for the price, you can just pay according to what you can pay, there is no problem…" As soon as those words came out, our tears rolled out of our eyes, and we were filled with thanks to the landlord for what he has done, and even more worshipping the Lord within us. Thank you, Lord, for being our Abba Father. He has prepared more than what we can ask or imagine. He tells us again through the environment that He is there. He is the Lord. Our life on earth should depend on Him. Only He is our true husband and our Father.
At this time, the landlord suddenly thought of something and said: “Can you check in at 12:00 noon on April 14th? It’s not really convenient to check in before this." We looked at each other, what else was there to say? The Lord knows that our check-out time for our current apartment is April 14th. The host looked at us when we gave no response and began trying to explain to us why the check-in was only available on the 14th. We simply replied to him: “Thank you, sir. Just in time."
After walking out of the building, we whispered to the Lord: “Lord, thank you. We worship you."
I wanted to record this experience to share with the brothers and sisters who have been caring, loving and cherishing us. He has already prepared everything in our way of life. We turn back to Him again and should respond to Him: “Lord, Your servant is listening."
Primary text from brother Kevin and me, proofread by Lily.