God Works in Wonderful Ways in a Hairdresser’s Life!

Did you ever wonder where on earth the money would come from just for your daily needs, and then be asked at church to give to something beyond that?  Or did you want to go on a short term missions trip and know for sure that your budget didn’t have any extra money for trip expenses?  What if BOTH of those things happened at the same time?

Hairdresser Laurie Barnett of Mt. Zion Church in Beavercreek, Ohio found herself in just such a situation.   Laurie had signed up for Mt. Zion’s trip to Honduras and had sent out some letters to her friends, family and clients and other acquaintances to ask for donations toward the $1850 expense.  She was feeling stretched in her budget as a single mom and knew it was beyond what she earned as a beautician to afford this missions trip.

The church was just about to kick off a brand new building campaign for another three years and announced that they would be visiting all of the members and asking for pledges from each church family for the building campaign!  Within herself she was feeling a very negative attitude due to all this financial pressure and wondered if God even wanted her to go to Honduras.

When the home visit came she was shocked at the number they had given her and knew that there was no possible way she could commit to that but she said she would pray and seek God about what she felt He wanted her to give.  As she prayed she felt led to pledge something that was beyond her personal belief that she could afford, but in faith she made this commitment to the building fund – something that would be paid over a three year period – and trusted God to provide the funds since He had impressed that amount on her heart.

Meanwhile, that left her with TWO “debts” – the long term pledge to the building fund and the short term need to pay for the trip to Honduras.

THE NEXT DAY after she had changed her attitude and made the commitment to the building fund, a client walked in to her beauty salon and handed her a check, which at first glance she thought was for $200.  She said, “Oh, I can’t accept $200 from you!” and the lady said, “Look at the check again.”  It was for $2000!  And the lady insisted that she accept it.  So, not only was the trip paid for, but she had $150 extra to help another person with their trip.

THE NEXT DAY another client gave her a $100 check!  The day after that a man, who had brought in a client in a wheelchair, overheard Laurie talking about the trip and was saying negative things about overseas travel and being generally discouraging.  But as he kept hearing Laurie’s enthusiasm, he had a change of heart and offered to get scrubs for some of the team members!  On the third day a client brought Laurie two pair of shoes for the trip.  About a week later, another one of her clients wrote her a check for $100- she had never even sent this client a letter for a donation-she just offered !

Laurie has been able to bless the team by giving the extra money to the team’s general fund, and she has realized that when she prayed about the building fund and changed her negative attitude, God blessed her immensely and confirmed that He wants her to go to Honduras.  In fact, she is convinced that God is going to do something big on this trip and she can hardly wait to see what it is!

God’s Amazing Provision for a Bank Teller!

Marissa Cunningham, a teller at Liberty Savings Bank in Englewood, Ohio, has found the people at work to be very supportive of her trips to Honduras.  They loved to hear her stories from last year’s trip, and this year her manager and district manager were 100% behind her when she asked to put up a sign in the bank lobby to solicit vitamins, hygiene goods, and baby blankets for the trip.   A co-worker helped her make a sign and set up a table with pictures from last year and a donation box.  This elicited a lot of inquiries from customers and gave Marissa many opportunities to share her enthusiasm and her love for the people in Honduras.

But she’s had more than just inquiries.  On a recent morning a lady that Marissa had never helped or even talked to before, brought in a bag of hygiene supplies for the trip and Marissa thanked her.  About 20 minutes later she came back and asked if she could ask some questions.  She asked about the trip, who she was going with, and if Marissa needed prayer support.  Through this conversation the lady learned that Marissa had graduated from Dayton Christian and the lady said that all 15 of her grandkids have graduated from there also.

A couple of days later, while Marissa was not working, this lady came back to drop off another box of hygiene items AND a check for $400!  Marissa exclaimed, “Wow, a woman I don’t even know, let alone her name, wanted to help because she said God has blessed her so she wants to bless others!”  Then Marissa opened her teller drawer and there was an envelope with $100 from an anonymous donor.

Marissa went on to say, “God is seriously so good if one steps out in faith.  God does provide if one believes, and I believe.   This is not only good for me but I know that a couple of people that I work with do not believe in God.  One of them started crying when my manager told her what happened with the lady and the anonymous giver.  She could not believe that a lady I did not even know donated so much.  I had the chance to tell her that if one believes in God, it is amazing to see what God will do!”