The Money Trail
By Lisa and Travis Sharon
Travis Sharon shared this miracle story with us from the time he was building a jungle school on the border of Thailand and Myanmar. Although the events of this story happened a few years ago, Travis still considers this to be an incredible reminder of God’s faithfulness in his life.
Rainy season was looming, and the school building was not finished. Although Travis and the builders were working as hard as they could to get it done before the relentless rains came, they were missing one thing…roofing.
Travis wasn’t too worried even though he was almost out of money. He still had to buy food for the students, pay the teachers, fill the gas tanks to keep his truck and motorbikes going, and a thousand other things that always seemed to demand money. But it was nearly the first of the month, and Natalie always deposited funds into his account around the first of each month. She was dependable. He was sure he could count on her. He tucked 100 baht (about $3.00) into his pocket, only enough to pay for the gas to get to town so he could get more money. Then he went back to work.
Since he had only enough money for one trip to town, Travis waited an extra week before going, just so that he could be sure the money would be there. The morning finally arrived when he knew he could not delay the trip any longer. He hopped on his motorbike for the grueling trip to town.
Hours later, he pulled up to the ATM, inserted his card, and waited expectantly for the money to be spit out of the machine. But no money came out. Instead, a notice on the screen caught his attention. "Insufficient funds."
Slowly, he climbed back onto the motorbike for the long trip back to the school. He saw no point in staying around when he could not buy supplies; he could not stay at a guest house...he couldn’t afford anything but to go back home.
On the long ride into the jungle, Travis wondered why God had not supplied his needs. He knew God promised to take care of His children when they are doing His work, so why not this time? Why no money when so much work needed to be done before the rainy season? How could he provide for his students and his teachers? Did God let him down this time? Could he really trust God?
Travis on his motorbike during rainy season
But as he rode along, he couldn’t help but remember how God had always supplied his needs before. As he contemplated his situation, he decided to move forward. He may not have any money, but there was still plenty of other work that needed to be done. He would do his part, and leave the rest to God.
As his motorbike approached a waterfall that he would need to ascend, he noticed something laying on the ground. Curious, he stopped the motorbike and went to look. It was money. A nice crisp bill laid flat on the ground. As he looked around, he saw more money laid out in a line going up the trail, as though someone had carefully laid it out like that on purpose. He picked it all up, thinking it was very strange to find a line of money laid out on the ground out in the middle of the jungle. He tucked it all into his pocket, and headed on up the road to the nearest village.
At the village, Travis stopped and talked to the headman. "Had anyone lost any money lately?" The headman asked all the villagers, but not one person came to claim the money. After checking everywhere he could think of to find the owner, but with no success, he realized God had put that money out on the trail in a nice line just for him.
God has a thousand ways to provide for us. We can trust Him completely.
“But my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:19
Travis and his wife, Becky, are working on building another jungle school in another part of Thailand. They, along with other members of the Sharon family, have also started some publishing work, creating and distributing small religious pamphlets in local languages. If you would like to support Travis and Becky's work in Thailand, please click the button below.