10 Buck Challenge!

[Ryan May]

In Matthew 25 Jesus tells a story of a master giving three servants a certain amount of money to multiply for his kingdom. Two of the servants reinvest the gift and are rewarded. One buries it and ends up with nothing to show.

On Sunday, July 26th we put $10 in the hands of those who attended The Net. Now, we want to know what happened to the money. How were you able to multiply it? What need were you able to fill? Whose life were you able to touch? Share your story below…

If you missed the service and would still like to accept the challenge – consider reinvesting $10 of your own money into the community… After all, it’s all the Master’s anyway, right?

[Karen Jackson]

When Mary and I got into the car, she asked me if I knew what I was going to do with my $10. This kind of surprised me, as was sitting there thinking about people who attend the day center where I work. We have several men and women who live in boarding or group homes and have no family here. They are given what we would call an allowance from their money every month. I can't tell you the amount they are given from "their money", but any teenager I know who gets an allowance, receives more in one week than they get for the entire month. When Mary asked their was one particular woman I was thinking about. Her name is Fay. She has no family here, lives in one of the group homes, and has several health problems. The easiest way to explain her problems is to simply say most of us would have given up and thrown in the towel. She keeps on going though. In her younger days she sang in a gospel trio. Mary and I decided to put our $10 together and get her something she wanted. On Tuesday, I was talking to my Daddy on the phone and told him about the $10, and he said he would send me a check for another $10 to put with ours. Wow suddenly we had $30. The next morning, Mary's daughter said she had been thinking about the $10 Challenge and wanted to add another $10 from her. That quickly we had doubled our money. Now my mind was racing, because I already knew when we received the envelopes inside that I was matching the $10 that was there. WOW what a blessing $50. I stated thinking that we had enough now to help not only the woman but someone else also. There is a man who is cofined to a motorized wheelchair. He can only go to church on Sundays via public transportation. He sometimes has problems with this. We now had enough money for him to be able to go to his church for a few Sundays.
Fay now has a new pair of jeans, a new pair of tennis shoes,(white ones are her favorite), and coconut candy(which is also her favorite). But more than that she has the biggest smile on her face that you can imagine. God Bless you Fay, you just keep on going no matter how many curve balls you are thrown. You never give up, you are quite a lady.
There was enough money left for transportation to and from church for Clarance for one month. My friend Cathy matched the amount for one months transportation. Thanks to that he is now able to attend his chuch for two months. It is a blessing that this gentleman accepted this offer. He is a very humble and independent man who as a general rule will not accept anyones help. He also has a smile on his face, knowing that he gets to do the thing that is most important in his life.....go to church. Thank you for this challenge, for both Mary and myself it was a great thing.

[Ryan May]

You ladies are great! More than doubling your money... and sharing in an eternal reward!

What a blessing to those two people and what a blessing to The Net. So grateful to have you with us each and every Sunday!

[Jeff Allen]

A student, at the school where I teach, had her house burn down 3 days into this new school year. The mom is a single mother of four and the fire destroyed everything they owned. Jennifer, Ethan, Garrett, and I all gave each of our $10 to the family to help in buying clothes, etc. Ryan, we loved the challenge and are blessed by the Net!

[Ryan May]

Glad to hear it, Jeff! Been through a couple fires myself... so, I know this was a great need to help fill! Thanks for being a part of what we are doing in this city!

[Ryan May]

Received a letter from J. Hourihan regarding his use of his $10...

Dear Ryan and The Net,

I took my $10 and bought two Hot-n-Ready pizza's. I brought them to the steps of the community kitchen, along with a donation. The pizzas didn't make it through the door! What a happy feeling came over me as I saw those smiling faces. What a treat!

Thank God and thank you all! God Bless!!

[Ryan May]

Email from Connie Coleman:

Just to let you know how the church’s $10.00 was used. I was visiting there in Chattanooga when you gave out the $10.00 to the congregation and asked us to use it to help someone. My husband learned of a man who was unable to make his truck payment, so we added the $10.00 to the amount needed and made the payment anonymously. Your suggestion spurred us to action. God Bless You!

[Randy, Tina, & Anthony Karnes]

We matched the money and donated it to the medical fund for an eight year-old boy who has bone cancer.

[Ryan May]

Great job, Karnes Family! Love having you represent Christ and The Net in our community!!