God is faithful to provide

Our family would not be at Trinity College Bristol today, where Justin has been teaching Christian doctrine for eight years and I’ve helped with the college’s communications work for five, apart from the faithfulness of God. As I’ve watched the world shift under all our feet, it helps me to remember that.

The world of our family shifted in 2015, when we were unexpectedly nearly deported from the UK, an effect of the government’s decision to decrease the number of immigrants in the country in our visa category. It seemed we would in one blow lose our home, our jobs, our children would lose their schools and friends, and we would be moved back to a country where we hadn’t lived for a decade without an option to return. We had never felt so powerless—but here we still are.

In 2017, when we had to reapply again, this time for Leave to Remain, we were already carrying thousands of pounds of debt from our previous unsuccessful and then successful visa applications, and now needed £15,000 to cover the cost of our family’s applications—a huge amount of money from the perspective of our annual finances—overwhelming! But God held us steady again. He provided all of that money through friends, family, and strangers—so many of those gifts came from former and current Trinity students.

The current unknowns loom large in my mind. Although I can’t know what God will ask of us now, how he will direct us, where there might be difficulty or pain, he has been sufficient for our needs in the past and I must remind myself he will be sufficient for us today. He is faithful.

–Melissa Stratis, Communications and Publicity Officer

If you are a member of the Trinity community, past or present, share a story of God’s faithfulness from your life, so we can encourage each other: comms@trinitycollegebristol.ac.uk. Read the collected stories here.