Riding Around in my Automobile

Missionary programs differ, but the majority of them bring their missionaries home every 4 years or so to visit churches and present reports. In the Assemblies of God, we raise our support individually (meaning we depend on personal promises and gifts). Doing that type of traveling to churches means we’ll put an average of 30,000 miles on our cars in one year of fund-raising.

When we get back to the US, every missionary is shopping for:
· A reliable car – I don’t want to be stranded on the side of the road in the middle of the nowhere.
· A car with low mileage – that makes sense considering how many miles I’ll add.
· A cheap car – missionaries aren’t wealthy folks obviously.

This week has been my first foray into buying a car in the US. Prior to this, the cars I owned were either given to me or were cheap "college kid" cars, paid for from my own savings. In order to find a good reliable car that will meet my needs for the next year, I began my latest “new experience:” getting an auto loan.

I appreciate our Assemblies of God Credit Union, which fast-tracked my loan request and approved me immediately to borrow enough to pay for a 2004 Honda Accord (pictured here). They are good to the missionaries!

Another missionary had recommended a man in Wichita who rebuilds cars and sells them to missionaries at a discount. He has a real heart for missions, and this is something (as a used-car dealer) that he can do to help us. When I called him, he gave me a sweet deal: the car I bought (a few thousand dollars less than the blue book value), plus he'll rebuy it--guaranteed--from me when I finish my itineration at a great percentage. He only had a limited selection available, but he told me about this one that met my needs and my budget.

I drove out to Wichita this morning (five hours!), and he met me at the Wichita airport, where I exchanged a rental car for my very own Honda Accord. I got to play around a bit with it, while I drove back (four hours! different route), and I'm really satisfied. I really thank the Lord for providing the loan and the dealer that could give me such a blessing!