Testimonies
Around the time of the Building the Vision campaign—July through October 2007—I received three pay raises. In September, Tina also received approximately a 25-percent raise. In light of our higher incomes, we prayed and asked God how much we should give to the campaign and we came up with a figure and started to give.
In March 2008, Tina had surgery, and we had a lot of extra medical expenses. But we received a check from an overpayment of our escrow that would cover our building pledge for two months. Then I received a bonus check that almost equals our pledge from April to the end of the year. God has given us financial blessings equal to our commitment for the rest of this year!
Praise God!
Daniel & Tina Von Ruden
In November I was notified of an impending layoff in my department at Dell Computers. In December I received a phone call from a previous supervisor about an opening in another department for a position two levels above the job I had. I applied for the position, and within hours I received a phone call offering me the job!
I believe this promotion was directly related to the commitment my family and I made to the Building the Vision campaign.
Praise be to God!
Richard Hernandez
On July 20, 2007, I disputed a salary discrepancy of $1,100 that I should have received from a prior annual raise. Ten days later I received a new raise of $3,400. I had only expected the corrected amount, but received an additional $2,300. Within twelve months, I had received a total of $6,000 in annual raises!
To some, these numbers might not seem big, but to me they’re tremendous, primarily because they have God’s fingerprints all over them. I had been burdened to give to the church, and it is these raises that have enabled me to give to Building the Vision.
In addition to my increased salary, I unexpectedly received a homestead adjustment refund check of over $1,200 on January 26, 2008. I am so grateful for these financial blessings so that I can give to the work of God.
Praise the Lord!
Joe Boado
Since my husband, James, is retired and I work only two or three days a week, we did not think that we would be able to give much to the Building the Vision campaign. When we prayed about an amount to give, his was almost double what mine was! On Commitment Sunday, we went ahead and pledged his amount.
A few weeks later, my manager informed me that I would be receiving a substantial raise—even though I had previously been told that there would be no raises. At first I did not connect it with our pledge. When I finally did several days later, I counted up the amount of the raise, averaged over a three-year period (the time given to pay our pledge), and it more than pays for the amount we pledged!
To God be the glory!
Barbara & James Campbell
We made the decision to participate in Building the Vision in the fall of 2007. At the time, we were hoping to close on our first home. However, when we began searching for a home in August, we decided in our hearts that buying a house would not hinder our giving to God’s house. We decided to purchase very conservatively so we would be able to afford to give to the building fund.
The deal on the first house fell through in October, but just hours later, an opportunity opened up to buy a newly constructed home that was larger and much nicer than the previous one. It was a good buy, but it was priced more than we wanted to pay. Despite our concerns, we felt that God had opened up this opportunity for us, and we put down our earnest money.
The following week we attended a PIE meeting held by Pastor Shaw. After this meeting we decided to double our commitment. That same week we received three financial blessings: a pay raise, an unexpected monetary payment, and a $16,000 reduction in the price of the new home we had just signed on. This brought the purchase price well within our original price range.
After making our first-fruits offering in December, we were blessed again by receiving a Christmas bonus and a brand new refrigerator for our home—free-of-charge. Upon moving in, we found that our home came with many upgrades that were not included in other houses of the same model in our neighborhood. We were able to pay off all our debts, including our vehicles before moving into our home.
We really feel confirmation that God has honored our commitment. He not only has provided the means to give our monthly pledge, but He has also blessed us in ways we never expected. God is truly faithful; we have watched Him do “exceeding abundantly above all that we can ask or think.”
We continue to be amazed at the grace and goodness of Jesus Christ in our lives.
Edward and Vashti Maldonado
