I believe in MIRACLES...

I just keep looking at this page, over and over again. It's been a week since it happened, and I still can't quite put my feelings into words. One minute I want to run around like a crazy person, shouting about the GOODNESS OF GOD, and the next, I just want to fall on my face in thankfulness. I have seen my fair share of miracles in my life, but somehow they never cease to amaze me!

$190,000

It's hard to even fathom raising that amount of money, and yet, we agreed to try. Our Indian Partners had gone to another organization to ask for their help - a much bigger, more successful organization - and they turned them down. They told them it was impossible. Why did we say yes?! It certainly wasn't because we felt like we could do a better job.... It wasn't because we knew we had an amazing fundraising plan up our sleeve....

....we said YES because we heard 33 precious little boys and girls crying out to God one Friday night in November,  praying boldly for their Father in Heaven to provide land and a new home for them. After hearing their passion and seeing their great faith, how could we say no? And so, we agreed to give it a try.

I have often felt like David vs. Goliath as we tried to figure out how to conquer this great need. The two of us, with our little non-profit organization that is only 2 years old. It felt impossible! And yet, something in me knew that God would not ignore the prayers of His children. After all, He is a good Father who longs to give good gifts to His kids!

As the months passed, we began to make some progress, and we were encouraged. But when we returned in April from a month in Africa and found out the deadline had been moved up, doubt crept in again. Suddenly, we only had 30 DAYS to raise $75,000! It wasn't long enough to put together any kind of big event, and we were mentally and physically exhausted from our trip overseas. We had no idea how to come up with that amount of money in only a month! We knew then it was going to take a miracle... and a BIG ONE! "God, you are going to have to do this!" we prayed. "We know it's impossible without you!"

AND HE DID.

We needed to raise $75,000 in 30 days. 3 weeks passed, and we still needed $54,000. Then, the last day of fundraising came - and we were still $20,000 away! But in just a few short hours a MIRACLE happened, and by 9:30pm (2 and 1/2 hours before our midnight deadline) the Asha Mission Land Project was FULLY FUNDED!!!

That means that this precious "family" below is getting their own piece of land in India - which puts them one (huge) step closer to their new home!

I wish I could share every single story that made this happen. We got letters, phone calls, emails and tweets sharing why and how people wanted to give. It was incredible to hear all the ways God was moving in the hearts of His people all over the nation. The sacrifice and obedience of so many is what made this miracle possible! (Rusty did a great job sharing about that on his blog. You should definitely go read his version of this story!)

For each and every one of you who shared in this burden - THANK YOU just doesn't seem enough! I know that there are so many of you - quite a few that we've never even met - who donated, shared, tweeted, emailed, blogged, posted, called, prayed, begged, borrowed, and sacrificed to make this happen! I absolutely mean it when I say, YOU ARE HEROES to our children in India! Every single one of you were a part of this incredible MIRACLE!

And that miracle is the reason this page is so beautiful to me. It's not just a website. It's not just a fundraiser. This tiny corner of the world wide web represents 190,000 reminders of God's GREAT FAITHFULNESS!

I don't know about you, but I definitely believe in miracles...