With megachurches comes mega-help. And no one knows this better than Rajean Johnson, a 35-year-old single mom who attends Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Ill.
After enduring a grueling divorce that left her emotionally and financially drained, Johnson had plans to move into a fixer-upper house her parents purchased for her with their retirement money. The two families were excited about living together and began making repairs, but soon discovered the foreclosure wasn't just unfixable, it was unlivable and needed to be demolished. Facing possible homelessness, Johnson turned to her church, which responded in a way few smaller churches can.
Using more than 300 volunteers, Willow Creek partnered with a ministry called Love in the Name of Christ to build the Johnsons a 1,600-square-foot home in a remarkable seven days.
"If we or someone else didn't help them, they would be homeless," said Willow Creek Pastor Marie Shepherd. "Our job is to follow God's leading, and based on how this all came together in terms of the volunteers and donations, it really seems that God has His hand on this."
More than six years ago, church member Bryan Kidd launched Willow Creek's home-building ministry, called Blitz Build. Since then, it has partnered with Habitat for Humanity to erect nearly 450 houses across the nation, including areas damaged by Hurricane Katrina.
For Johnson, it's the bi-level structure her kids can now sleep in that she'll remember the most. "My parents and I are completely overwhelmed by the generosity of all these people," she said. "I don't have the words to express how grateful I am." [dailyherald.com, 10/6/09]
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