A Financial Miracle for the Schneider Family

I (Fred) would like to tell you about a financial miracle that greatly impacted our family. Mike Bickle, the founder of Kansas City’s International House of Prayer, has said that God is just looking for ways to “wow” everyone who gets involved in a financial miracle - from the giver, to the receiver, to the ones who hear the resulting testimony.
When my contract job in California ended on December 31, 2004, we had already decided to move to Kansas City to attend the Intro to IHOP course. However, we were facing some tremendous financial pressures, and definitely in need of a miracle.
So, prompted by Mike Bickle’s teaching as noted above, my wife, Gretta, and I took a step of faith by “sowing“ my last and final paycheck from that contract job right back into the Kingdom of God. We gave it to various ministries that God had used over the years to touch our lives.
We knew that if we had used that money as we typically would by depositing it in the bank and writing checks against it, the funds would have only covered a few of our already overdue bills. Then, we would still be facing tremendous needs because we were planning to make a big cross-country move.
Not only had my job in California come to an end, but Gretta had just finished up her five year job as accountant with a Christian radio station syndicate.
To make matters worse, we needed to somehow come up with tuition for our IHOP course, and we were planning to move halfway across the country to an area where neither of us had any contacts or knowledge of the job market. What a pickle we were in!
So, contrary to all sound, logical, and fiscally responsible thinking, we sowed the money into God's work - taking the Bible literally when it says that “with God, ALL THINGS are possible.”
We had a family meeting and told our children that we were going to give this money toward ministry, and then we prayed together and asked the Lord to “show-off” and move on our behalf.
We boldly asked God to give us a TEN-FOLD RETURN on the amount we were about to sow, because when we added up our projected needs for the next three months, the needed amount came to approximately ten times the amount of my paycheck. We didn’t need $630 (my final paycheck) … we needed $6,300!
We did not tell anyone outside of our little family circle about our sowing in expectation of a ten-fold miracle return. However, we were counseled by our pastor to simply let it be known to our family and friends that we were planning to move to an International missions base in Kansas City, and if anyone would like to give towards that move, we would gladly receive any assistance offered.
This was a humbling experience for us, but definitely part of God’s plan.
Well, now we come the exciting part: Over several months, Gretta, the accountant in the family, kept accurate records as friends and family from all over gave financial gifts toward our adventurous move as we headed off to Kansas City … including a $1,000 donation from an old family friend living in Qatar over in the Middle East!
Approximately three months after we began this process, Gretta sat down in our apartment in South KC to look at the family finances. She was shocked and amazed to discover that we had received exactly $100 less than the amount we were asking for – a literal ten-fold return on the amount that was originally “sown” in faith.
Thrilled, but a bit perplexed, she forgot about it until later that same afternoon when she opened a card that came in the mail that day. It had been sent to us by her brother, and it contained a check made out for exactly $100.
The check was accompanied by a thoughtful card that said the following: “I woke up a couple of days ago and had the distinct impression from God to send this. I hope this arrives in time for whatever reason.”
Wow! Equally amazing is the fact that ever since the day we received that final $100 check, we have not received another penny in “donations”. What an amazing, wonder-working God we serve!We hope and trust you are as “wowed” about this financial miracle as we were and still are. This was certainly a miracle from God’s hand, and it has made a lasting impression on our family which we will never forget.