A Faith Building Experience in Bellbrook, Ohio
Dear Wake Up Family,
This month’s newsletter is slightly different than usual. It is a praise report as a result of a story of faith.
If you are acquainted with the history of Wake Up America Seminars, you may recall how Larry was influenced by the life of George Mueller. Mueller was a Christian evangelist in the nineteenth century who exemplified living by faith. He had a passion for unfortunate children and ultimately housed over 1,500 orphans in five homes. The amazing part of his story is George built and operated the homes using unsolicited donations! He believed if God wanted this mission to succeed, He would provide the means to accomplish it.
Larry began his ministry using the same approach as George Mueller: as long as the Lord provided funds, he would continue sharing Revelation’s story. We are grateful and pleased to say that since 1987, Wake Up has been able to meet its financial commitments with unsolicited funds as its only source of income. However, the walk of faith is never easy and in its early days, Wake Up had its share of struggles. Walking by faith was a real challenge as well as a faith-building experience. It has been amazing to see how the Lord provided monies many times, just when the need arose.
When Wake Up started, Larry had only enough money to fund the ministry for three months. The most critical need was to have a small office space to store inventory and process orders. He found a small space in downtown Bellbrook, Ohio that would accommodate the need. When Larry told the building owner, Jim Bonny, that he only had enough money for three months, Jim waved it off without even requiring a contract or deposit. Larry remembers overhearing Jim mutter that he didn’t want to waste the paper. Since that day, we have occupied the rental space with only one small rent increase in 33 years. Jim has been a gracious landlord and true friend of Wake Up America. When Jim retired, he gave the business to his daughter, Leah, and she has been as generous a landlord as her father.
For many years, the Bonny’s have told us that we would have the first option to buy the building if or when they decided to sell. A couple of months ago, Leah decided it was time to close her business and asked if we were interested in buying the building. After a few days, she and the Wake Up board had agreed on a price! Now, here is the best part of the story… The Lord blessed Larry’s faith many years ago when he began renting space month-to-month; and the Lord also blessed Jim and Leah for stepping out in faith with an unknown entity. This is how the Lord works, isn’t it? Everyone involved wins!
Some Wake Up supporters have asked if we have the resources to purchase the building out-right. The short answer is, just like George Mueller, Larry made a choice decades ago that if the Lord wanted a project to be accomplished, He would provide the means to make it happen. Just as Mueller did not believe it appropriate to use borrowed funds to finance building projects, at Larry’s behest Wake Up has regularly set aside funds for this purpose.
We are so thankful to the many supporters for their generosity which made this purchase possible. Our new building will now allow us to consolidate storage from multiple storage units into one centralized location as we continue to share Revelation’s story. We know we have much hard work ahead, but thank the Lord each day for His many blessings.
Marty
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