Two weekends ago, Stephanie, I and the girls packed our things and hit the open road to travel to Pennsylvania for a fundraising dinner. We had been planning this event for many months and were excited/anxious about how it would go. We were blessed beyond belief at how the dinner came to be. Let us tell you the story!
It all started with my parents. Last summer, my dad was approached by a colleague at work. He heard we were missionaries and wanted to provide food for a fundraising dinner to benefit our mission. Of course, we said YES to this wonderful opportunity. We began planning the dinner, and invited our friends and family from this area of the country. We reached out to our denomination and they connected us with Stone Ridge Covenant Church in Allison Park, PA, who offered us their fellowship hall to use for this special night.
We prayed and waited anxiously for March 28th to arrive. Eventually, the weekend came and we drove to Pittsburgh. Our entire family got involved in the planning. My aunt and cousin donated artwork for the raffle. My parents ordered all the food and prepped it. Our siblings helped coordinate the gift baskets for the raffle. Our grandmother welcomed guests as they arrived and took down their contact information for our monthly newsletter. Both of our family’s came – and showed their support for our calling to Germany.
We celebrated with a wonderful turnout of old and new friends, family, and brothers and sisters in Christ. It was such a treat to reconnect with friends and supporters who we don’t always get to spend much time with. It was such a special evening.
Right before we were to step up and share our presentation about the need for the Gospel in Germany, a dear friend and supporter announced that he and his wife would match all gifts of $1,000 or greater up to $50,000 in support of our mission. We were baffled. Perplexed. Grateful. And in awe of God’s goodness and provision. That evening, 3 people stepped up and gave matching gifts. Since then, 4 more have committed to matching gifts. The next day, this couple announced they will continue matching gifts until all $50,000 is matched! The craziest part about this is…when all $50,000 is doubled, it will put us very close to being 80% funded, and will soon be time to leave for Germany! This would potentially allow us to depart in 2015 as planned.
This event was such a testament to God’s faithfulness. He blessed us with sweet memories, quality time spent with people we love and allowed us to make new connections. We knew God’s hand was on this event, but we couldn’t have imagined the incredible ways He would reveal Himself and lead everyone involved closer to Him.
We are so grateful to all who attended this event, supported it in some way, or prayed for us. We are certainly a few big steps closer to being fully funded after this special weekend. And we sense God’s presence in our lives and in the lives of the people around us more clearly than ever.
