Praising God for the PERFECT donation!
By Judy Aitken
How was your Valentine’s Day? ASAP had much to celebrate! On February 14, 2011, a little more than five years after the purchase of the ASAP office building, our team and some of our volunteers gathered together for a special mortgage burning celebration.
We praise the Lord for making this possible by blessing ASAP with a gift of $77,777.77! Did you count the number of sevens in this donation? Seven sevens--which makes this love gift from God absolutely PERFECT! The gracious donors specified that they wanted $55,000 of it to go towards paying off the mortgage. We praise God for delivering ASAP from the bondage of debt and see this as a direct answer to prayer. Though many have persisted in prayer for some time regarding this need, the ASAP team focused specifically during the ten days of prayer in January on becoming debt free. God is a prayer-hearing, prayer-answering God indeed!
You could feel the excitement in the air as Bruce Bauer, ASAP Board Chair, offered a prayer of thanksgiving and led out in the ceremony of burning the mortgage papers. This was a day all our staff and volunteers will not soon forget. We rejoiced as we considered how our loving Provider once again did above and beyond what we could think or imagine for our ministry. I had tears in my eyes as I considered the thousands of dollars that we no longer have to pay in interest over the life of the loan, but will instead be able to put to use in soul-winning projects in the field.
We know that giving to pay off the mortgage is not the most glamorous ASAP project to support. We asked these donors why they felt impressed to give toward ASAP’s mortgage and the husband shared the following with us:
In the last few years, God performed a miracle by lifting huge burdens of debt from my wife and me. We were slowly paying off more than $10,000 in credit card debt—while still returning tithe to the church. When the last card was paid off, we rejoiced! Then when a new job opportunity arose involving moving to another state, God not only arranged to sell our home quickly in a down market, but He also ensured the amount it sold for was enough to pay off our mortgage and completely pay for our new house. For the first time in our marriage we were completely debt-free! The feeling of release and joy was overwhelming. It felt like we could breathe deeply for the first time in years.
My wife and I were so blessed by what God did in our lives that we wanted others to experience that same blessing. We started giving to others in need and consequently started feeling the joy our Lord Jesus Christ must feel in giving to us. Being out of debt brings with it an amazing freedom to give to God and His children with less hesitation and a greater generosity that thrills the soul. God blessed our faithfulness over a few things by trusting us with larger sums of money. We asked, “What shall we do with your money, Lord?”
With the world in financial turmoil in the last few years, we were strongly impressed that money would soon be worthless in a bank account. We know that in the last days, when faithful followers of Jesus will not be able to “buy or sell,” it will be too late to empty our bank account for God’s work. While those restrictions are not yet here, we wanted to take tangible steps now toward being dependent on God, not man. If we are to trust that our bread and water will be sure in the last days, why not start trusting God with this promise now?
We decided to give the bulk of our recent financial blessings to ASAP. We love how God uses ASAP to effectively and efficiently reach thousands with the light of Christ in countries where there is such gross spiritual darkness. It is a blessing to give to so many worthy projects, but after experiencing the joy and freedom of having God pay off our own mortgage, my wife and I decided that allowing God to do the same for ASAP would spread the joy to literally thousands more people. Blessed be the name of the Lord!
To God be the glory, great things He hath done. As you daily commit your resources and lives to our Heavenly Provider, may you also experience His miracles that will result in greater freedom to you and blessings to many others.
ow was your Valentine’s Day? ASAP had much to celebrate! On February 14, 2011, a little more than five years after the purchase of the ASAP office building, our team and some of our volunteers gathered together for a special mortgage burning celebration.
We praise the Lord for making this possible by blessing ASAP with a gift of $77,777.77! Did you count the number of sevens in this donation? Seven sevens--which makes this love gift from God absolutely PERFECT! The gracious donors specified that they wanted $55,000 of it to go towards paying off the mortgage. We praise God for delivering ASAP from the bondage of debt and see this as a direct answer to prayer. Though many have persisted in prayer for some time regarding this need, the ASAP team focused specifically during the ten days of prayer in January on becoming debt free. God is a prayer-hearing, prayer-answering God indeed!
You could feel the excitement in the air as Bruce Bauer, ASAP Board Chair, offered a prayer of thanksgiving and led out in the ceremony of burning the mortgage papers. This was a day all our staff and volunteers will not soon forget. We rejoiced as we considered how our loving Provider once again did above and beyond what we could think or imagine for our ministry. I had tears in my eyes as I considered the thousands of dollars that we no longer have to pay in interest over the life of the loan, but will instead be able to put to use in soul-winning projects in the field.
We know that giving to pay off the mortgage is not the most glamorous ASAP project to support. We asked these donors why they felt impressed to give toward ASAP’s mortgage and the husband shared the following with us:
In the last few years, God performed a miracle by lifting huge burdens of debt from my wife and me. We were slowly paying off more than $10,000 in credit card debt—while still returning tithe to the church. When the last card was paid off, we rejoiced! Then when a new job opportunity arose involving moving to another state, God not only arranged to sell our home quickly in a down market, but He also ensured the amount it sold for was enough to pay off our mortgage and completely pay for our new house. For the first time in our marriage we were completely debt-free! The feeling of release and joy was overwhelming. It felt like we could breathe deeply for the first time in years.
My wife and I were so blessed by what God did in our lives that we wanted others to experience that same blessing. We started giving to others in need and consequently started feeling the joy our Lord Jesus Christ must feel in giving to us. Being out of debt brings with it an amazing freedom to give to God and His children with less hesitation and a greater generosity that thrills the soul. God blessed our faithfulness over a few things by trusting us with larger sums of money. We asked, “What shall we do with your money, Lord?”
With the world in financial turmoil in the last few years, we were strongly impressed that money would soon be worthless in a bank account. We know that in the last days, when faithful followers of Jesus will not be able to “buy or sell,” it will be too late to empty our bank account for God’s work. While those restrictions are not yet here, we wanted to take tangible steps now toward being dependent on God, not man. If we are to trust that our bread and water will be sure in the last days, why not start trusting God with this promise now?
We decided to give the bulk of our recent financial blessings to ASAP. We love how God uses ASAP to effectively and efficiently reach thousands with the light of Christ in countries where there is such gross spiritual darkness. It is a blessing to give to so many worthy projects, but after experiencing the joy and freedom of having God pay off our own mortgage, my wife and I decided that allowing God to do the same for ASAP would spread the joy to literally thousands more people. Blessed be the name of the Lord!
To God be the glory, great things He hath done. As you daily commit your resources and lives to our Heavenly Provider, may you also experience His miracles that will result in greater freedom to you and blessings to many others.
Judy Aitken
Director