A lowly $20 bill received by one man at a Christmas Eve service in downtown Chattanooga recently provided the wherewithal for another man in North Georgia to get back on his feet.
The money was parlayed into $1,470, which bought the man, who’d recently been released from prison, a truck, insurance, tags, a little gasoline and a chance to get a job.
“The Lord said it’s more blessed to give than to receive,” said Brian Haney, pastor of Anchor of Hope Baptist Church, who received $20 at the Christmas Eve service at the Chattanooga Convention Center. “When God’s in it, it happens. The Lord worked it out.”
The story of the parlayed money was one of many shared with worshipers at Brainerd Baptist Church last Sunday after the congregation gave away $26,000 to the 2,700 people who attended its Dec. 24 service.
The idea, according to pastor Robby Gallaty, was that the church’s gift would inspire those who received it to, in turn, give to someone else.