When Lisa and I first came to Harrisburg from Rochester, NY we were determined to keep the wisdom of the Scriptures which simply says where God guides, He provides, extracted from the passage in Isaiah 58:11.
Arriving in Harrisburg we saw families trying to survive with rising costs due to inflation.
An important part of our walk with God is how we use the resources He has entrusted to us—and in teaching God’s word to a newly planted church, we wanted to share this principle. I prayed about how we could live this passage out in our lives without making others feel obligated to give or hurt families that were trying to simply put food on their tables. How could we teach people about giving, as God would have us, during such a terrible economic season? We sensed God leading us to put a box out to receive any offerings brothers and sisters wanted to give. This would allow them to give secretly—the amount was only for them and God to know. God blessed the idea, and the believers gave as they were able. When we planted this fellowship over 8 years ago, we put out a cheap cardboard box covered in paper, which served the purpose for years until we were able to order a wooden box for the job. To this day, we have never passed a plate or taken a formal offering.
God has provided for all of this fellowship’s needs through those boxes in the back. In the last few years, we have had more and more requests for a way to give to the ministry electronically. With the update of the website, we have decided to add this provision for online giving and donations. However, as always, we do so with the same encouragement that is pasted onto the offering box in the back: “So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.” - 2 Corinthians 9:7. -
Pastor Matt VanderVen