I remember it well, a medical misisonary couple visiting the church I was attending at the time, sharing their story of living by faith and realising the truth for themsleves that, 'God is no man's (sic) debtor'.

Since following the call on my life to train for ordained ministry, my own experience has shown time and time again the truth of this assertion.

In the year before pursuing the call, I saved hard, and then sold my house, using the proceeds to to fund rent, food, insurance, utilities etc over the next four years.  There were small-ish bursaries from which I was able to contribute to the cost of my college fees, a friend who gave me the tithe on her overtime, and my Mum who collected all the appropriate BOGOF deals and gave me the free ones.  Amazingly, when I left college, my bank balance was the same as it had been when I started, and I was able to use that money to establish myself in my new home.

Over the years, I have received generous hospitality and practical gifts (including sacks of onions and (in the days when I ate it) back pudding!).  People quietly paid for flights, train tickets, hotel bills and car hire when my mother was critically ill and I was newly diagnosed with cancer.  There have been endless lifts, vets bills have been paid, someone gifted me money towards the bookcases for my office, others have given me 'ice-cream money' for holidays... the list goes on and on.  Just this week, two monetary gifts (one shown above) which, together, almost exactly matched the cost of my new computer.

Anonymous benefactors, generous friends, considerate colleagues and a God who is not only no-one's debtor but is actively outrageously generous.