My brother Tim just turned 50 a few weeks ago. My brother, Steve, and I teased Tim constantly when we were young because Tim is blond in a family full of brunettes. What's more, Tim has blue eyes whereas Steve and I have brown eyes. We told him that he was adopted and if he did not do what we told him to do we could always take him back. Kids can be cruel.
In spite of our incessant teasing Tim taught me a tremendous lesson about prayer. I saw him in the back yard one day when we were kids, praying and asking God to help him find his dime. He had dropped it in the tall grass and had been looking for it for several minutes and decided he needed divine intervention. Being the older brother and full of the wisdom that comes with being an older brother, I rolled my eyes and stated laughing. I said Tim, don't waste God's time for ten cents. Tim wasn't discouraged. He kept on praying. He kept on looking and he found his dime. He said to me, "God is interested in my ten cents." I never forgot that lesson.
Last week the carpenters came to put the metal sheets on the roof of the chapel. This is, of course, the rainy season and it rains every single day. I prayed that God would allow us to have no rain during daylight hours for a whole week. We needed the time to get the roofing sheets on and this work cannot be done with the storms that are common during December. The carpenters came and God held the rain back. 
The roofing sheets are all on the roof. On Saturday morning I was in the garden and it began to sprinkle. It wasn't much so I went to the Lighthouse Children's Home to work with the boys there in the garden when suddenly the sky opened up and it poured. The rain was constant for the next twelve hours. I was reminded, again, that God had answered my prayer for five days.
We often think that God doesn't really care and that our prayers are simply an exercise to keep us humble. Nevertheless, God cares about roofing sheets and He cares about dimes. I appreciate my brother's lesson and we appreciate your faithfulness to pray for us as we serve our Lord in Zambia.By the way, Tim, as a 50th birthday greeting… you weren't really adopted. We now claim you as part of the family. Thanks again for your faithfulness and in teaching your older brother a little bit about God's faithfulness.
In His Service,
Patrick & Sherry
