I posted back in November about our church building program and the struggles we were having closing the gap between rising construction costs and what was raised from the congregation. The deficit amount grew to $160,000 and we needed to close this gap so we could fund the loan and start the building project. We needed to raise the money in cash and not pledges and we only had two weeks to do it before our construction loan window would close.
Our Pastor, John Hansen, decided to do the biblical thing and fast and pray until the gap was filled. I have to say I have a lot of faith but this one stretched my limit a little bit. Where would $160,000 dollars come from? The congregation had already pledged over a million dollars, many giving very sacrificially. Day after day John fasted and prayed, sustaining himself with just juice and water. This last Sunday, John was noticeably thinner and we wondered how long he could keep this up.
Sometimes God tests our patience and I found myself really wondering about my faith this week. After all, this was real life, not a chapter in a motivational book. God has always been faithful in my life but his timetable is almost always slower than mine. And he usually answers in some strange way that I could never see or imagine.
Yesterday he answered John’s prayers. Someone from another church in our denomination put up the money as an interest only loan for our congregation. Our building loan will be funded and construction will start soon. And six year old Les Fountain will have a youth center to grow up in.
Pastor John fasted for 10 days and lost 16 pounds.
John Hansen is a man with a Passionate Purpose.
