A Life of Faith and Trust in the Father

- Experiencing God's faithfulness in everyday life -

What is ''Living by Faith''?

For us it means that we depend on God for everything we need! Right from the start of our communal life, God guided our Mothers to live by faith, trusting every day that God is faithful to His promises. When God gives a commission, He is also responsible for carrying it out. The acquisition and upkeep of our Land of Kanaan is a spectacular and clearly visible example of this.

God is the best counsellor

We can testify that God is our most reliable and faithful counsellor, financier and provider. When we take care of His business, He takes care of ours (see Matthew 6:33). He is inventive; it is not hard for Him to help us whether our needs are large or small. We have written a whole book about it, ''Realities - God's Miracles Experienced Today'' and we could write many more like it full of true stories of God’s faithfulness – and about the surprises He loves giving His children.

God's faithfulness - gifts for the garden

Is anyone still counting?

"Father of faithfulness” is just one among seven characteristics of God embossed around the rim of our Father fountain – because this is our every day experience! We cannot even count how many meals we have prepared and bills we have paid or the sums required to cover them. The years have flown since the first house was built. Now repairs are mounting … roofs, windows, drain pipes! Only the Father knows when for example the next heating bill is due, or doctors’ bills, hospitals, medicines ….. He has so many different ways of helping, some of them unbelievable and all of them creative. Even now, we never cease to be amazed.

Great is God's faithfulness

It is natural to worry and we often still let Him down, but “when we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot disown himself.” (2 Timothy 2:13)

Words to live by

Mother Basilea gave us some words of encouragement for times when we can’t see the way forward:

God comes when it's dark.
He knows about your problems and will help you.
His strength makes you strong too!
He suffers with you.
He always has a way out.
His help is always greater than your need.
He knows how much you can bear.

see Basilea Schlink, ''In Him Will I Trust''

Questions we are often asked

Why did you decide to live this way?

We don’t live by faith out of necessity; we made up our minds to depend on God for everything in response to Jesus’ admonition:

Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well... Freely you have received; freely give. (Matthew 6:33 and 10:8).

We longed to give God glory by depending on Him everything without asking for donations, having a fixed income, or depending on state and church for support. At a time when many lack financial security, we want people to see that He is a faithful provider. As Christians living in the end times, we try to encourage others that they can trust God to provide for their needs too, not just for groceries, but for unpaid bills, help in times of illness and in old age too. He is a faithful God who is well able to take care of His children

Does living the way of faith still work today?

After so many years, perhaps even more than at the beginning, we can answer with conviction: Yes! - even if it is not an easy path. In more than seven decades we have acquired a pearl necklace of experiences with ups and downs on the way: Whether it was the daily care and the medical care of our big family, the acquisition and the maintenance of our grounds KANAAN with all the houses - without debts! - whether it was the construction of the GARDEN OF JESUS SUFFERING and the maintenance of our chapels and houses, machinery, technical equipment - or whether it was very personal needs such as shoes or toothpaste, our Father provided for everything.

Do you really live entirely on donations?

Reading the daily bank statement is fun because we never know beforehand what to expect. Most of our literature is passed on without an invoice (regulations require us to charge for certain items) and for us it is still a miracle how God will nudge someone to support us, whether by much or little. He covers huge, unforeseen expenses. Help sometimes arrives at the last minute but never too late.

If we are beginning to worry, we often remember these words from Hudson Taylor “We do not need great faith but faith in a great God. We may often fail God but He never fails us.”

We also go the way of Jesus in everything by obeying God’s commandments, seeking first the kingdom of God so that nothing can separate us from Him and He can continue to bless us.

Our "Father Fountain"

... is a sign of the overflowing fatherly love of God. God did not just build Kanaan on miracles, He also gave us an abundance of watr for our dry, sandy land. And He still continues to provide for all of our needs right up to the present day.

Seven characteristics of God are written in gold mosaic stones around the rim of the fountain: