Devastating storm only strengthens couple's ministry
By: Jimmy Tomlin, STAFF WRITER 01/19/2003

Cindy and Don Palmer's ministry needed a bus (above), and they believe God provided it during their High Point visit. Construction on a new church in Belize continues (right). Don says he is convienced the ministry will grow to 55 churches.

A powerful hurricane may have leveled Don and Cindy Palmer's house, but it certainly didn't knock down their faith.

When Hurricane Iris roared across Belize on Oct. 8, 2001, packing 140-mph winds, the deadly storm clobbered the Palmers' modest house and crippled their burgeoning ministry in the small Caribbean nation.

Fifteen months later, however, the winds have long since died down - another hurricane season has come and gone, in fact - and the interdenominational Ministries of the Son of God is still standing, stronger than ever.

The Palmers, a husband-and-wife missionary team, say their ministry has been blessed time and time again since the storm.

They've managed to build a new home. They're completing a new church and have another one on the drawing board. They've seen their tiny Bible studies grow into large gatherings. They've seen hungry children - children who sometimes must go a day or two without food - give their lives to Jesus, because they're even hungrier for spiritual nourishment.

"I'm telling you, we serve a God of restoration," Don, a High Point native, says with a grin.

Maybe the Palmers' ministry has blossomed because it was in the eye of the hurricane.

More likely, they would tell you, it's because the ministry was in the eye of their God.

* * * *

In the days immediately following the storm, the Palmers had some questions for God.

Don was sleeping in his pickup truck - sharing it with his dog, Solomon - and making meals of beans and wieners, peanut butter and water. On one occasion, he cried out in the night, "God, what have I done?"

Meanwhile, Cindy had flown back to the United States and was staying in High Point with Don's mother, Peggy Alexander. Cindy had been reluctant to move to Belize to begin with, and she had even more reservations about returning there.

"I just prayed and said, 'Lord, I feel like this is what you called us to do, so we stepped out there and did it, and I don't understand why all this is happening,'" she recalls.

"I said, 'In my eyes, you're going to have to perform a miracle for me to overcome this and get back in the saddle and do it all over again.' And He did."

The Palmers got back in the saddle pretty quickly, and they see God's hand in their journey.

For example, when Don joined Cindy in High Point, a couple of months after the storm, he learned a man who had bought property from him had decided to pay off the loan Don had financed. "He wrote me a check," Don says, "and that's how we rebuilt our house."

Rebuilding took about eight months. In the meantime, the Palmers gradually got their ministry back on its feet and began constructing a small church in an area inhabited by Mayans and Garifuna, a black African people steeped in voodoo traditions. The church should be completed by the end of February.

Also, with the ministry thriving, Don has drawn a blueprint for another church - and he believes more are on the way.

"This is gonna sound far-fetched, but I believe I'm pregnant with 55 churches," he says. "And I believe we'll expand into Mexico and Guatemala."

Pretty strong faith for a man who was essentially homeless 15 months ago.

* * * *

In addition to all those churches, Don wants to build a nice playground that will attract children from miles around.

Cindy dreams of a library. If built, it likely would be the only one in southern Belize, they say.

"We've got some big visions," Don says, "but you know, the Bible says (in Proverbs 29:18), 'Where there is no vision, the people perish.'"

In recent months, the Palmers dreamed of a bus for their ministry, to transport villagers to and from church. They had been loading as many as 30 people at a time on the back of Don's pickup truck, and making three such trips every time they had a worship service. The long, bumpy drive was both taxing and time-consuming.

So before Don and Cindy left Belize last month to visit High Point, Don told the villagers, "You need to be on your kneecaps praying for a bus."

A few weeks ago, in High Point, Don spotted a bus with a "For Sale" sign on it. "There it is," he told Cindy and his mom.

Don didn't even flinch at the asking price: $21,900.

Instead, he told the owner, "I don't have any money - I'm a missionary - but my Father's got all the money in the world. I'll be back, because I believe He's gonna bless us with this bus."

Don mentioned the bus at a local church he and Cindy were speaking at - "I believe somebody's gonna help us raise the money for this bus," he told the congregation - and sure enough, a man called a couple of days later and told the couple that God had laid it upon his heart to raise the money for the bus. He came up with the money in a matter of days, and now the bus - sporting the name of the ministry on its sides - sits in the driveway at Don's mother's house, waiting for him to drive it down through Mexico to Belize later this month.

The Palmers also had been talking about buying a keyboard for their new church. Last Sunday, after they spoke at another area church, the pastor came up to Don and asked, completely out of the blue, "Could y'all use a keyboard?"

"It's incredible to see the doors the Lord's opening for us," Don says.

And considering it's all happening after a storm nearly destroyed their ministry, it's all the more encouraging to their faith.

"I think the Lord used that hurricane as a growing experience for us," Cindy says.

Don nods in agreement.

"Unfortunately, about the only time our faith can grow is during a bad situation," he says.

"When you're up on top of the mountain, that's not fertile ground - that's stony ground. But when you're down in the valley, that's fertile ground. That's where you grow."