Divine Relocations
By Debi Tesser
“I’m praying that you move here.”
Shocked, I asked the friendly stranger to repeat her words. I had retired just a few weeks prior, at least on paper, and my little schnauzer and I were on a six-week road trip. That Sabbath, I landed in northeast Washington to visit friends and attended a church in Chewelah, Washington, for the first time.
Shirley, the church organist that day, turned around from her pew to ask, “Who are you?” She knew only three things about me when she spoke the words that would take me on another adventure with the Lord. She knew: 1. My name is Debi. 2. I’m from Michigan. 3. Barry and Anita are my friends.
When Shirley made her query, the date was September 11, 2021. Exactly twenty years before, I was on the other side of the country. As the events of September 11, 2001, unfolded, from my office in northern Virginia, I could see and smell the smoke rising from the Pentagon on that fateful day.
After two other significant moves in those twenty years, I knew God was on the move again. I had fallen in love with “real” mountains when I met them decades before. I had lived in Maine near New Hampshire’s White Mountains, but those were foothills compared to the mountains of the West that enamored my heart.
Before I left on the driving tour, the Lord had already closed one possible door in future ministry. Just about a week after I left Washington State, He would close another.
When I heard the words from the church organist, I knew God was calling my heart, calling me to the mountains. Micah 4:2 and Isaiah 2:3 relay essentially the same words: “Many nations shall come and say, ‘Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths.’ For out of Zion the law shall go forth, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.”
Centuries before, God had promised the Israelite nation that He would show them where to pitch their tents. Thus, I began to claim that promise in Deuteronomy 1:33. Where would God show me to pitch my tent?
In January 2022, I spent two weeks looking for housing for my little dog and me. Nothing turned up, but I knew God was leading. All divine directives pointed to the Pacific Northwest, so I purged my household things and packed what was left.
Another friend in Chewelah, Washington, Michelle, homeschools her girls. In her homeschool group, she had friends whose family owned an empty house and needed someone to live in and maintain it. April 23, 2022, God showed me where to pitch my tent. She took me on a FaceTime tour, we settled on rent, and I was one step closer to pitching my tent in the mountains.
From the front of the truck to the rear of the trailer hauling my car, the 47-foot rig carried everything I owned 2,200 miles to the mountains where God had made it clear I was to pitch my tent. Gus, my mini schnauzer, has always been a great little traveler in the 15 years we have been together. Except for stretching our legs at rest stops, we drove through heat and hail to meet God on the mountain in Washington. He had answered the church organist’s prayer.
Debi Tesser loves to write and enjoys photographing God’s second book, nature. This testimony is reprinted with permission from TimeToGetReady.org ministries.
World Church Prayer Requests
September 29 – October 5, 2023
- Pray for “Centers of Influence” being developed in cities around the world. Pray for the Mission to the Cities initiative, and for workers to answer the call to serve. There are still so many large urban areas with no Adventist presence.
- Pray for the Middle East and North Africa Union (MENA) and for the difficult work in this region. Pray for the Holy Spirit to open doors and hearts.
- Pray for General Conference missionaries working with Adventist Missions, as well as the missionaries working with ASAP Ministries, Jesus for Asia, Adventist Frontier Missions and others.
- Pray for believers in the country of Iran. This country has nearly 84 million people, and there is no official Adventist church or membership.
- Pray for God to open the doors into North Korea. Pray for the Christian believers there who live under cover and/or are suffering for their faith.