I wrote earlier about Restore’s Big Give, our Christmas Generosity Experiment. The people of Restore did an amazing job. Here’s some of the stories.
Kevin and Joy Colvin turned their money into $1,135 to a family in need
Derek and Kali Nelson turned their $1 into $1,500 to purchase Bibles for orphans in Cavillon, Haiti.
Rob and Jamie Owens and family turned their $20 into $800 to help a family struggling with cancer without medical insurance
Anna Burnett turned her $20 into $790 to give to foster kids living in Niles Children’s home
Brandon and Angela Lenniger turned their $25 into $650 to give to children who are hospitalized over Christmas.
Karen Degreve turned $30 into $540 to buy gifts for children whose parents are incarcerated.
The Bowman small group turned their money into over $500 to help children in the burn unit of Children’s mercy hospital
Norma Enloe turned her money into $400 to help a family in need.
High School boys small group turned $20 into $372 for a family who just lost their mom to cancer.
Another high school boys small group turned $30 into $250 to buy a water buffalo to combat hunger in a 3rd world country.
Sammy Young turned $20 into $250 to purchase clothes for Park Hill Clothing Center
Lindsey Partington turned $20 into $240 to buy gas for people at a gas station.
Sovereign family turned their money into $200 to help refugee families learn English.
High School Girls small group turned $10 into $110 to give away wal-mart giftcards to shoppers.
Alexis Leggett and Katie Strickland turned their money into $80 to buy bagels for staff at St. Lukes hospital.
Restore matched the $4,216 that was in your pockets which equaled $8,432. On the restore’s Big Give Facebook page alone, people nearly doubled that amount and raised $8,357 equalling a total of $16,789.
We kept our commitment and we have chose a Big Give winner. I recorded audio of the spouse of the winner giving his perspective on the impact of the Big Give. Check it out:
When all else fails, do what Oprah does… right? Ok, maybe not. But this year for Christmas we wanting to empower generosity at Restore without pointing people in a specific direction. The people of Restore have proven that they know how to be generous and we knew it was time to dream up ways to give BIG this Christmas.
Here’s what we did: Troy McMahon was giving his normal warm wishes from the stage, updating people on some of the upcoming things at Restore when he stepped off the stage, onto a subwoofer, and then on to the floor, face to face with the people. He asked everyone to pull out there wallet. (That’s never a good thing when a church asked you directly to get your wallet out). He said “Take out your largest bill”…people did, hesitantly. He walked over to a man with a $10 bill, and handed him an additional $10 bill. Then to a woman with a $20 bill, then a $50, even on to a man with an $100 bill.
“What the heck are we supposed to do with this $?” was written all over their faces. “Watch this”, we told them.
On Sunday we collected our Impact offering and God continues to be a faithful provider. We casted a vision to Restore and asked for $100,000 in one morning, approximately 10x what normally comes in. This money would go to the launch of our 2nd campus in Liberty.
I am thrilled to share that on Sunday, the people of Restore responded in faith and gave an overwhelming $137,000!!! The people in this church community continue to blow me away with their generosity.
Rick McKinley of Imago Dei in the Northwest, says “It isn’t giving ’til it hurts” and I know that people have made HUGE sacrifices to see the Jesus mission carried out here in KC.
Thanks Restore!! My prayer is that God continues to bless us, individually and as a church, that we might continue to be more generous with what is HIS!
