It is both challenging and encouraging to look back at the year that had begun so "not according to plan" and know that God was there through it all.

Finding God on Island Time

by Stephen Beck

It couldn’t have come at a worse time…all of it. Charlotte Grace was moments away from being born, and the nurse and doctor had just informed us that it was time for lunch. “We’ll be back in 30 minutes,” they said. The room emptied, and my wife Rejyna and I transitioned to a holding pattern. Delivering another daughter was not on my to-do list.

The timing of a passing tropical depression, broken epidural pump, and power outage were all less than opportune. The hospital generator had kicked the power back on, but not the air conditioning. That meant we had an 82-degree delivery room with no airflow. I was sweating and had a hard time catching my breath, and I was not the one having a baby!

 It was the beginning of September 2009 and the start of a new year at the Free Will Baptist Christian School in Saint Croix, US Virgin Islands. The school had seven new staff members and nearly 100 of the 317 students enrolled were new. The increased enrollment was a specific answer to prayer. At the time, it was difficult to appreciate the blessings.

As a husband whose wife had been in the hospital for almost a week after complete bed rest for three months, as a father with four small children and one on the way, and as the administrator of a school with barely enough room to hold all the new students and staff, time was a commodity of which I had very little. Yet, I found myself waiting more than an hour for the doctor’s 30-minute lunch break to conclude so we could return to the business at hand. Island time!

The unexpected knock at the door was not the doctor, but Ms. George, a lady from the Saint Croix Free Will Baptist Church who had been in the hallway praying. Her brief visit reminded us that a vast number of churches, teachers, and students were lifting up our family, church, and school in prayer.

Photo: The campus of the Free Will Baptist church and school sprawls across the hillside.

God had already used His people to answer prayers that I was not smart enough to pray (or maybe too busy to notice the need). Ms. Jones, an elderly shut in from the church, convinced her neighbors to bring us fresh vegetables twice a week. Pam Anis, former resident of the Virgin Islands now living in Missouri, took a month off to come down and help.

On that day, God’s answer to the prayers being lifted up on our behalf was a beautiful, healthy baby girl. God’s blessing did not stop there but continued to spread throughout the church and school. During the school year, 22 middle and high school students accepted Christ as Savior. When an earthquake devastated the neighboring island of Haiti, students and church members organized fundraising efforts that resulted in thousands of dollars in relief funds.

Reflecting back on the school year, many details of my life are blurry. What is clear is the unmistakable hand of God leading us through what felt like chaos. It is both challenging and encouraging to look back at the school year that had begun so not according to plan and know that God was there through it all.

While there were bumps in the road (both literally and figuratively, like the time when an iguana got stuck in the wheel well of a teacher’s car and caused a traffic jam in the school parking lot), the Lord has blessed and provided. I can’t say that God is on island time, but our on-time God often has a different schedule than we do. Adapting to His schedule is not always comfortable, but it is always rewarding, and without a doubt, the best for us.

About the Writer: Stephen Beck is assistant pastor of The Free Will Baptist Church, St. Croix, USVI. Read more about the school and about the ministry of Free Will Baptist Home Missions at www.homemissions.net.