Godly Stewardship…

Over the course of the last few years, God has granted us a long line of blessings, many of which serve as defining moments for our church. During the summer of 1995, God led us to what was then an eight-and one-half acre tract of land at the intersection Breakneck and Jackson Roads. Although a beautiful plot of land, its price of $250,000 seemed beyond reach. However, when God’s plan was done, that eight-and-one-half acre piece of ground expanded to nearly twelve-and-one-half acres while its price dropped to $200,000. In yet another example of God’s direct intervention, our banker informed us that in order to mortgage the land, we would need to provide fifty percent of its cost up front. By the time we purchased the land, God had already accumulated the $100,000 that was needed. God continued to show His blessing by allowing the church to pay off its five-year note in less than one year! On Easter Sunday 1997, Fellowship Bible Church held its first service on our property. With folding chairs and portable equipment, the Lord was worshipped while the sun rose over the property He entrusted to us. On a special service held on the church property, the growing church family committed to giving over $400,000 for the new building project.

The construction of God’s building here at Fellowship was also to be a learning experience for our congregation. With advice from architects and other experienced professionals, a final building layout was decided upon and construction on the facility was started. Even before the foundations of the building were laid, however, a God of protection intervened by making it clear that the cost of the building presented to the building committee, and on which the church had authorized construction, was significantly underestimated. With much prayer and consultation, the construction manager in charge of the project was released and a search was undertaken for a new builder. In this troubling time, God led us to Mel Weaver of the Weaver Construction Company from Lancaster County, PA. Mel’s team was able to change the floor plans to accommodate our ever increasing attendance while using the same construction dimensions and, therefore, eliminating the need for significant, additional approvals through the governing agencies. In another example of God’s intervention, at the end of the bidding process Weaver Construction informed us that the cost for these changes was less than expected which saved us more than $50,000, an amount that equaled almost to the dollar what was lost when the original construction manager had to be released!

Finally, construction was underway and what glorious times were spent watching as God steadily raised His building in the alfalfa fields of Mantua Township. Happiness entered the building even before it was completed as we joked with the Amish foreman who had to be driven to the site and sang hymns with our “full-throated” painter as he changed colors for a third time with the patience of a true believer. We were eager to occupy our new home and maybe even a little impatient as the time grew closer. As always, God knew best. In His perfect timing, the doors of Fellowship Bible’s new home opened for our first Sunday worship service on September 2nd, 2001, just 9 days before 9/11. In the immediate aftermath of 9/11, Fellowship Bible kept its doors open 24 hours a day for prayer, as caring members prayerfully ministered to the grieving, confused community. As a shelter and refuge for those looking to understand the events of that day, Fellowship Bible ministered to its new neighbors and experienced the first influx of new attendees in God’s new building.