Page 24 - Living Epistles

We were to find out from this tiny lady that "white people" cannot live in the
pueblos. As a matter of fact, some of the Pueblo Nations have a 'sundown law"
in which all white people must vacate from the village at the setting of the sun.
She pointed out to us Pena Blanca a town of 500 people, set between two
Pueblo nations, where "white people" could live.

We had booked a motel in Albuquerque for a one week stay. Every day we
would travel back and forth from there to Pena Blanca in an attempt to find
a vacancy in residence, but nothing opened up to us. The credit cards were
quickly being depleted and we only had ten dollars cash in our pockets. The
day before the motel reservation was completed, an efficiency opened up. We
packed our van and checked out of the motel as Jose grumbled under his
breath to the Lord, "you know that we only have ten dollars, we will look like
fools trying to rent something!" The Lord told Jose, "be quiet and move on!"

We were shown a clean and unfurnished efficiency by the landlady whom
would later become a precious friend. We knew that the Lord wanted us to
take it, but were at a loss of what to do. Stammering and stuttering, Jose and
Mary huddled together as the landlady looked on. Knowing nothing of our
financial dilemma she interjected, "you can move in today and pay me next
week."

That night, we settled into our new one bedroom residence that had a
shadeless lamp, a torn up sofa, and Wal-Mart blankets as its furniture.

The next day being Sunday, we went to visit a church in Santa Fe whose pastor
and congregation we had met the week before at a restaurant. Picking us out
in a crowd of five hundred, the pastor asked us to come forward and share the
testimony of how the Lord brought us from Miami, Florida, to New Mexico.
As we sat down after our speech he said, "The Lord just told me to take up an
offering for these folks." This pastor knew nothing of our finances. Over seven
hundred dollars came in and we were able to pay for our first month of rent
and deposit.

A week later, through the hands of a few Christians that live in Pena Blanca,
our efficiency was completely furnished down to a TV set, kitchenware, and
furniture. Once again, we had never asked.

We must now tell you about four notable miracles that the Lord performed
while we all slept together those two years in the living room of the efficiency.