Originally published February 24, 2012
Sometimes God answers prayer. And sometimes He pours out something that goes so far beyond expectations that you can’t help but be overwhelmed by His love and faithfulness. The latter describes our feelings toward Winterfest 2012.
We set a goal of raising $40,000 through the Sunday morning Winterfest contributions (combined Arlington and Gatlinburg) in order to secure a $40,000 matching grant offered by a pair of generous donors. We said $40k. God said double that.
A total of $81,500 was raised through the combined event contributions, which will be used to help purchase the building our ministry has been renting for more than a year. The contribution plus the $40,000 matching grant brings the total to $121,500.
The 3200 attendees from Arlington, Texas showed up in a big way and offered $11,500 for the ministry – and we were amazed. Then the 12,000 Gatlinburg attendees offered up more than $70,000 – and we were blown out of the water. An incredible $25,000 of that $70,000 was raised from the first session of Winterfest Gatlinburg and $45,000 was raised from the second session.
With the funds raised from Winterfest and funds previously raised before the contribution, we have enough to purchase the ministry building – an answer to a prayer two years in the making. Thank you to everyone who has made this possible. Our hearts are overflowing with love and gratitude. God is truly faithful. Always.
There really are no words to describe how humbled and thankful we are to God for the way he has worked through this whole experience. We are thankful that God worked through Winterfest to provide an outlet to raise these kinds of funds. We are thankful that God worked through the matching grant donors to provide an incredible financial blessing, as well as a fundraising benchmark for attendees. And, of course, we are thankful that God moved the hearts of the attendees to bless us in a way we could not have imagined. God has covered our ministry with the love of so many.
As always, you can follow the work of Breaking Chains, our building purchase and other ministry happenings through our Facebook page, website and blog. We look forward to you joining us in this next chapter of the amazing story God is writing for us.