The Jubilee by: Jennifer & Chris

We held on to the $$ until we could discuss it as a couple how we would use the $. I instantly thought of my aunt who has been out of work since the end of last year. Shes been applying, going in for interviews but nothing has panned out. My parents have been helping her out financially as best they can but they can only help out so much. When I called her to tell her what we were doing for her she was very shocked and grateful. She is a believer but this just re-affirmed to her that God is watching over her during this trying time. She was just starting to wonder how she was going to afford some of her monthly bills this next month and now God has once again provided for her.

Jennifer & Chris Leither

Getting Started

I have been talking to a lot of people regarding the Jubilee. Early on, Sunday and the first of this week, the needs that were on the front burner for some have been met, but there is a large group that have yet to give anything away. Many families are praying about what to do and looking for opportunities that they might not have been looking for or even seeing just a week ago. This has revealed a great side benefit of the Jubilee; it is requiring families and individuals to go discover needs. $500 is just too much money to be frivolous with and requires an attitude of stewardship to discover the things God’s heart beats for. Participating in discovering the places where needs exist, will help all of us develop the kind of heart God has for this community. If you are looking for ideas, need help discovering needs or would like to offer your thoughts about engaging the Jubilee, place a comment on this post so we can learn and challenge each other.

Pastor Doug

The Jubilee by: Deb and BJ

Deb and BJ have no internet access but wanted to include their Jubilee story. BJ has had his truck in the shop and funds have been really tight. The day his truck was in the shop, BJ went to Hy-Vee with the Jubilee money and bought donuts and juice for the garage guys. When the baker at Hy-Vee heard what was going on, he joined in with the Jubilee and threw in lots of extra stuff (donuts). Then when BJ went to the garage to pick-up the truck the mechanics got in on the Jubilee and took a huge amount off the bill. BJ said that the Jubilee money just seems to go and go! Deb is in the process of giving away her half right now…more to come!

Those Impacted by the Jubilee

We will be entering comments, as we receive word from people who have been impacted by the Jubilee. Please read the comments below.

The Jubilee By: Kathleen

Doug, yesterday was such a blessing. My sister and I both work for Dakotabilities. My name is Kathleen and I am one of the staff that brings our individuals to your church. We only took one envelope and I'd like to tell you some of the events that took place. First we went to a friend's house that has been down for quite some time with limited resources and family to help her. On Saturday we drove to her apt. and gave her 10.00 dollars for her birthday. Basically she lives on the county helping her, low income housing, and food stamps while she waits for disability to accept her application. Her health is not good. We gave her one of the 100 dollars to help reconnect her phone or do what she wants. You should of seen her face when we told her this was a gift from Jesus and that he loves her. My sister has a granddaughter that isn't married and has a newborn, one of those 100 dollars went to her. It was such a blessing to help people that truly needed help. We also gave small amounts to people we saw on the streets in the name of Jesus. One person at a bus stop asked me who, when I gave him 10.00 dollars from Jesus, because Jesus loved him. I repeated that it was from Jesus. It was a glorious feeling to be able to do this. I also want to thank-you for helping the individuals that were at church on Sunday. They truly have very little money and though they don't understand the amount of the gift they know they truly got a gift from Jesus that day. Charlie kept pointing up to heaven and he was smiling from ear to ear all day. As for my sister and myself we thank you again for letting us help others less fortunate then us, even though we struggle from day too day sometimes to make ends meet. I just want you to know that I struggle with my faith and that yesterday opened my heart up even more. May God Bless You and the Church. Sincerely, Kathleen Arndt

The Jubilee By: Leah

I am very thankful to have been in church this past Sunday. I am not a member of Hillcrest, nor do I attend church as often as I should. My family has been struggling with finances for a couple years now. It just seems like one thing after another comes up whenever we get a little savings going. We had previously been blessed to have some outstanding medical debt written off and that sure helped take a load of worry off of my shoulders! Combined with the $500 envelope from Sunday, We are almost caught up on our monthly bills! I feel guilty for keeping this money though, as I feel guilty for even receiving it in the first place considering that I do not go to church regularly, and my husband has'nt went in years. After showing him that envelope on Sunday titled "Year of Jubilee" and explaining to him what happened that day in church, I watched his eyes start to tear up, as he could'nt believe that anyone would do that for us! I hope that this will prompt him (and me) to start going to church at Hillcrest regularly. I also hope to be able to turn around and help someone else in financial trouble, just as we were helped, someday! I am a bit embarrassed to sign my name, but I will not be too proud. My family deeply appreciates your gift of random kindness shown to us! -Leah Harkema

Community Ideas for the Jubilee

If you have any suggestions of a person, family, group of people, or an organization who could use the Jubilee funds, please let us know. People can read the comments and decide if this is something they would be interested in giving to.

Looking for a Dentist

Remember "Oprah's Big Give"? Wouldn't it be great if we could increase what we give by getting even MORE people involved? "God's Big Give" has a better ring to it. Do we have any dentists in our congregation? We know of a person in need of alot of dental work who is in pain. He works construction but with building down he is not working as much. His wife is pregnant with their third child and his father is in hospice. He has needed dental work and new teeth for a long time but has never had the money to do it. He is the first to help someone in need and now he needs someone to help him. It would be great to go in with others to help this family or find a dentist willing to donate his labor.

The Jubliee By: William and Jessica

First off I'd like to thank Hillcrest for their dedication and compassion for the people of this city. I was one of the blessed people to receive an envelope today. As soon as the service was over we contacted a friend that works with the Answer Center and automatically found a Bosnian family in need of food. A man, his wife, a 4 week old baby, and a 3 year old daughter, were with a fridge and no food. So my fiancé, her daughter and I went and spent $240 on food, hygiene products, diapers, and other necessities, and delivered them ourselves to this family's apartment. It was saddening to see that they needed so much more; the 3 year old wore shoes that were too big and kept falling off as we took the groceries inside. The man is very saddened that he has no job to support his family, and no car, just a bicycle to get him around. The looks of gratitude and the many thank yous were enough to brighten our day, all I could say was "God has blessed us with this money; therefore, we felt we wanted to pass these blessings on to you".We also knew of a woman living in a sober living house, who was in desperate need of undergarments. So we took it upon ourselves to lessen her burden as well.As for the rest of the money, we felt a bit selfish, but we also felt God answered our prayers as well. My fiancé and I, will be getting married in almost a month. We are very much a low income family, being that my fiancé earns no income and my income all goes to a never budging debt. Our wedding was planned hastily, and everything is planned and set, we just have no money to pay for stuff yet. We took the rest of the money, and bought little things such as: a unity candle, cake topper, ring bearer pillow, flower girl basket & flowers, guest list book w/ pen, cake cutter, and small centerpieces for the tables. Just little things we have been stressing out about. The money handed out was a blessing for all involved. We just want to thank Hillcrest for the generosity and praise your efforts on making this Year of Jubilee one to remember. God is great, thank you Hillcrest.-William Jensen & Jessica Hilpert

The Jubilee By: Chad and Cassie

When we opened the envelope and heard the challenge we knew exactly what we were going to do with the money. We had no other thoughts. We have a friend who just graduated from college and trying to get back on his feet. Next my dad is a Vietnam Vet and and is having some health issues and unable to work at this time. Working our way down the list we have another friend who is having some car problems and relies on it to take her son out of town for his soccer games. We also gave out some gift cards to those who need it. It is very rewarding to be able to have this opportunity to help so many people. They are very thankful and so are we. Thanks for giving us this challenge!Chad & Cassie Ueke

The Jubilee By: Caitlyn and Hannah

This year was my first year up at SDSU. Right away in the school year I was reminded of how faithful God is. He has blessed me with so many encouraging people who are also trying to pursue the way of Jesus. One person who has really been a blessing to me this year is my Bri. She has taught me a lot about loving people and choosing joy daily. This semester she has had to deal with a lot of heartache in her family. Through it all she still held on to the faithfulness of God. We are both leaving to go on missions trips 2 weeks from today. I have really seen the faithfulness of God leading up to my trip to Honduras, especially through financial support. Bri is going to Ghana, Africa and up until today was under halfway funded. When given the $500 today I was pretty blown away. After thinking for a while Hannah and I decided to pool the money together and give back to her. She has been a huge blessing in my life and this was the perfect opportunity for her to be blessed...and a huge reminder of how faithful God is to her in the midst of a lot of the troubles she has been dealing with lately. Caitlyn and Hannah

What a Day!

Here is the bowl that sat conspicuously in the front for the worship center.

We did it! Over two services we gave out nearly $100,000. The look and shock on people’s faces was priceless. We're excited to see what God will do with what happened today. There were dozens of discussions happening all over the church regarding what people might do with the funds. The Jubilee is going to be great! Tomorrow we will try to get some pictures and video up on this post so you can experience it if you missed it. We still have a few envelopes left that we will get into the hands of Hillcrest people that were not here because of other obligations today…but there are only a few left. May God get all the glory for the work he has done. Let the Jubilee begin!