As the B99 and I continue on this journey of a church plant here in Stanly County, it is, as anyone would tell you that has been down this road, an up and down experience. We find ourselves one day ready to take on anything, and the next day cowering from everything. Journeys of faith are hard to explain because they are better understood by experiencing them.
One of the obvious needs in a church plant is funding, but before that can ever be expected, a clear call from God must be in the heart of the planter. So often we chase things that are crucial, but not the most important. For Wendy and I, the clear call after 2-3 years of uncertainty has been the number one benefit that has come out of the journey so far.
All that to say this: in one week, after God made very clear to us the calling He’s placed in our hearts for a new church in Stanly County, He has miraculously provided the $30,000 we need in order to qualify for the matching funds available from the Assemblies of God’s Church Multiplication Network. First, in a meeting about 704 (the youth center That Youth Thing is bringing to Stanly County), one of the men asked about the church plant and on the spot committed $10,000 to it. Then, the next Sunday I was allowed, at the last minute, to speak to our church about what God has been doing in our ministry over the last few years. I did mention to Pastor Bob that I didn’t want to make the formal church planting announcement that night, and he agreed. Of course, he ended the Sunday morning service with, “You won’t want to miss tonight! Paul’s got some exciting news to share!!” Great.
I ended up sharing from Acts 16 about how God led Paul to Troas through a series of closed doors, and that in Troas – a place of wondering and confusion – God expanded Paul’s vision to include another continent before bringing Paul back to Asia, which is where he wanted to go all along. I stopped short of saying our “new continent” was a new church, but did mention the need in our county for a church that could speak into the lives of 18-35 year olds.
When service was over, a gentleman handed me an envelope and said, “Acts would never have been written without Theohilus funding Paul’s ministry. I’ll have this to you in a week or so.” I looked down and saw $20K written on the envelope, and Wendy did the quick math and said, “You know we’ve got the $30,000 without asking for it, right?”
Miraculous.
