In my experience God is the best financial Manager there is. He owns the world and all that is in it...including the gold, silver, oil, land and anything else that earthly investors claim has value.

For this reason He is worth consulting on a daily basis for all our financial needs. 

In reading the Bible over the years I have found that Gods wisdom includes financial principals like…tithing, offering, giving, saving, sharing, working hard, investing, growing and celebrating.

The testimony that Tony and I have is that God has taken us on a financial journey of personal growth. It has been just like what a real plant would experience. We have endured times of drought and hardship, times of plenty and rain, times of fear and faith in the storms of unexpected trials and times of sowing new beginnings financially and personally.

Gods word says, Weary not in well doing, for if you faint not you shall reap a harvest.

In my opinion keep pressing forward and don’t give up… but do take time out to rest so as to prevent burn out.

Tony grew up mostly in Whakatane Bay of Plenty New Zealand and he was the second eldest of 7 children. He lived a childhood of poverty due to the absence of a working father and his mothers mental illness. 

But Tony in his childlike mind tried not to let his situation dictate his desires to achieve in something. He became a Champion Athlete at High School even when his diet was not enough and nutritionally poor. He has always tried to set high goals for himself, that have seemed unrealistic at times to others but I think Father God has liked that about Tony, because He himself calls the impossible into being. God loves a challenge!

I Troy Rika, grew up mostly in Awakeri Bay of Plenty on a 79 acre dairy farm. I was the eldest of 10 children and was responsible for lots of domestic chores and outdoor farmwork like milking cows before school and digging out ragwort in the holidays. In my child-like mind I felt very poor, because I wore second hand undies and used a plastic bread bag for my lunch box. I desired new clothes and matching bedroom furnishings and nicely packed food. We had heaps of kids and did heaps of work all for the love of it!

At 20 I married in 1986 and over the next 7 years had 5 beautiful children before I became a single mother due to betrayal and a deteriorating marriage relationship.

But praise the Lord God did not abandon me. 

God, with my co operation and obedience, grew me in faith. I leaned on God-my-husband for everything and He in turn provided all my needs, financially, emotionally, educationally and spiritually.

It was hard but good years. I raised my 5 beautiful children faithfully and also completed my Diploma in Teaching. It was during this time that God instructed me to continue tithing on my benefit and also to contribute to the Liberty Trust in preparation to one day purchasing my own home. It was a scary decision at the time as I was living in a 3 x1 state house and I was not sure if I could afford it but I am very thankful that I sowed into my future way back then.

Tony had also started his account with Liberty Trust but his goal was initially for a family home for him and his brothers and sisters in Whakatane as he had grown up without a stable family base.

After 5 years on my own my friendship with Tony began to escalate to a more personal level. But by surprise Tony was invited by his older brother to move to Australia and get a job.

After an 18-month long distance relationship via phone we decided to marry and relocate our family to Bunbury Western Australia. We arrived to Perth with just our sleeping bags and our clothes on Nov 20 1999. We slept on the floor and our new adventure began.

It was here that God told me to ‘expect the unexpected.’

It was a wonderful experience. I felt I was being rewarded by God for being faithful during a big test in my life and I believed Tony was blessed with a beautiful family like ours. And for the children it was a freaky surprise to live in another country.

After enjoying six months time out I got a job Tutoring Aboriginal Adults and then taught Primary School at an Indigenous school. It was very exciting.

Our life was very fresh but at the end of Tony’s six month contract we had to make a choice. Either we had to follow the Construction Industry and move the family to every new job or stay put to raise our family. We chose to secure the family in one spot but the sacrifice was to take significantly lower paying jobs.

We had a gorgeous wee daughter together whom we all loved. Our house was cramped and the 3 monthly inspections became hard work so we desired to buy a house of our own. It was a huge decision.

We now had an interest-free loan available through Liberty Trust but at that time we could only use it in New Zealand. But God assured me we would have a home in July of 2001. 

Come June we casually drove around the district and discovered some blocks of land on special and offering a $10,000 cashback on purchase. We put a deposit on the land and applied for a loan. Amazingly the Government increased the first home owners grant from $7,000 to $14,000 just prior to our application.

It was a critical period in our lives as we had 5 teenagers, a toddler and then another baby due. We were on one income and struggling to keep the same job. In one year Tony had 5 different jobs! There was also a period when I worked for a year while Tony stayed home to be house Dad.

We learned a lot over that time about endurance, Gods faithfulness, obedience, sacrifice, team work, and a sense of achievement. We also learned that family harmony and enjoyment is just as important as managing finances.

We were unexpectedly blessed with our 8th child in 2009 but by then we had managed to repay our mortgage completely. Praise God that we stuck to the goal despite adversity and stress and challenge. God was faithful, dependable and He heard our many cries of distress. He answered all our prayers.

In 2010 Tony and I decided we would like to use our Liberty Trust offer to buy a second property.

At first it looked like it was not going to be possible as new laws protecting the investor from overseas lenders appeared to be a blockage. But after patient and persistent investigation we discovered it was possible. Praise God for that!

We were the first Australian Permanent Residents to be approved an interest free loan from Ark Resources Ltd. Then just after our loan was approved Tony’s job ended! But Praise God Tony gained employment with a local company just before Christmas and we received the loan on 7 January!

We now have all 8 children back home living with us!

I praise God for the initiative of Liberty Trust in offering interest free loans and I praise God that we have finally been able to be a recipient of one of their loans.

I also praise God that He weans us off our dependencies and leads us into areas that are new and that He likes to build us up and move us on. 

Yours Sincerely

Troy and Tony Voller 

 

4 April 2011