Two gentlemen sat down to lunch at the Lincoln, Nebraska Cracker Barrel in January 2014. They placed their orders with Abigail Sailors, and then began a series of conversations with her as she moved about, caring for the other customers. They slowly learned that Sailors had just started at Trinity Bible College, but had run out of money after her first semester and was now working to save up to return to college in the Fall. As time passed, the gentlemen inquired about her joyful attitude – surely she must have grown up in a wonderful family…?
“At first… I just told them that I was happy to be alive, I was thankful, and felt blessed.” But finally Sailors gave the men a brief, but telling overview of her life. When Sailors was seven months old, her mother suffered a severe brain injury in a car crash, and was no longer able to care for her five children. Sailors’ father survived the crash, but was deemed unfit to care for the children at the time. The children were sent to three different foster homes, where Abigail and her siblings were abused frequently. When Sailors and two siblings were placed back with their father by the state, it wasn’t any better – he was arrested after years of abusing the children.
But about nine years ago, the nightmare childhood ended. John and Susi Sailors of Falls City, Nebraska, had seen their own five children grow up, so they decided to become foster parents to all five of the children – Shelby, Madison, Joshua, Sydnie and Abigail, who was then 10 years old. John admits that it took a while for the girls to warm to him due to their past abuse, but over time, trust was earned and a loving relationship established. “The way they treated us, you would never be able to tell that we weren’t their children,” Abigail says. “These were Christians who talked the talk and walked the walk… I’ve been blessed by God to be there.”
As she grew to become a young woman, Sailors felt that God was leading her to attend a Christian college to better her relationship with Him, finally settling on Trinity Bible College in Ellendale, North Dakota, choosing to major in youth ministry with a minor in psychology. As she shared these things, one of the men told her that he was a Trinity alumn and began filling out a cheque.
He asked a confused Sailors how to spell her name, then handed her a cheque made out to Trinity Bible College for $5,000, and another cheque made out to her for $1,000 for whatever expenses
she might have. “When they started to explain what they were going to do for me, I just started crying. I couldn’t believe it,” Sailors saw that generous gesture from these two strangers as God’s way of confirming He wanted her to continue in Bible College.
Souce: AG News
BIBLE STUDY: Psalm 34:17-19
Day 9 – PRAISE: God that He brings joy to the broken-hearted, and provides for those in need.
Day 10 – PRAY: That Abigail may grow to become a powerful instrument for the Gospel as she studies to serve the Lord Jesus Christ.