Last May as we prepared to come home for our U.S./Puerto Rico Assignment, David was pulled aside by one of the lay leaders from El Mesias, the Third Baptist Church in La Paz.Aaron Ramirez told David that he was looking for an accordion.Could David keep an eye out for one while we were back in the U.S.?David said that he would, but to be honest, how many of us run across an accordion?!

In November of last year we had the honor of speaking at Church of the Valley in Phoenix, AZ.This is the church home of Hope Siegrist.Some of you may know Hope from her participation in the Annual Step Walk during the World Mission Conference each year.I believe that she and Ronnie Lanier (from MA) compete as two of the oldest walkers (both over 80) and as the two who raise the most money (usually over $10,000 each)!Shortly after our visit to Church of the Valley, we were contacted by Hope.She had a friend named Dorothy Wells who wanted to donate a musical instrument to a ministry.Guess what it was?That's right, an accordion!

I had the pleasure of meeting Dorothy this January when we rendezvoused for the pick-up.I learned that she had purchased the accordion in 1951 with the plan to use it in ministry with the Native Americans of Arizona.The accordion is a beautiful deep red, which she said she chose because she had heard that the Native Americans loved the color red.Unfortunately, her dream to be a missionary to the Native Americans did not materialize.But Dorothy continued to use her accordion to worship God at her local church.Now retired, she decided that she wanted to donate the accordion to someone who would use it more than she.

What's amazing is that she first contacted some ministries with the Native Americans to see if they would accept her gift.But this door never opened.After a conversation with Hope about her desire to see her accordion used in mission work, Hope responded, "Oh, I know two ABC missionaries that might know a use for it!"Hope emailed us and I was the first to respond.I thanked her for the information and told her I'd get back to her.Later in the day I said to David, "We got the strangest email today.A woman wants to donate an accordion to mission work and wants to know if we can use it.Do you have any ideas?"You see, I was unaware of Brother Aaron's request to David before we left La Paz last May.So you can imagine my surprise and delight when David said, "I have just the person for that accordion!"

When we emailed Brother Aaron in La Paz, he then asked if there might be a way to get the accordion to him before late February as he'd like to use it in the dedication of their mission at Las Fuentes.Hmmmm.You just don't send an accordion through the mail to Mexico!Checking with other missionary colleagues in La Paz, we soon discovered that a pastor from another Scottsdale Church would be on his way to La Paz in mid-February.We called him and he agreed to hand carry the accordion on the airplane when he flies down.Is God just totally awesome or what?!!!

This story just reaffirms to me that God is always connecting us through relationships in unexpected ways.Through the bond of Christ, through the power of the Holy Spirit, we can indeed be joined together in One Accord."