This is the second article in a series on churches who are doing good in Gwinnett. Read the first here.

While many churches are slashing budgets, laying off staff, and discontinuing free donuts before the service, 12Stone Church in Lawrenceville, GA spent $350,000 this Christmas on single moms. Did they do this because they have discovered an unlimited ATM located beneath their beautiful campus? Absolutely not. Nor did Richie Rich donate the funds to do it. 12Stone did it because they profess and practice “giving ourselves away.”

The massive giving program consisted of three phases: The Kindle Program, Gift Cards, and Special Assistance.

Kindle Program

12Stone hosted a program called “Kindle” (which is based on an old prayer – “Increase my faith, strengthen my heart, and kindle my love”) in which single moms and their kids were invited to the church to attend a dinner and program. 365 moms and 630 kids from within the church community attended (no word on how many pets were in attendance). While the kids were involved in a program of their own, the moms were treated to a nice dinner (no mac and cheese!) and inspirational service. After the service, the moms and kids were reunited and the kids were presented with special gifts. (The moms had listed gifts on the sign up sheet, and could be valued up to $50. Volunteers collected the wish lists and bought all the gifts for the children, wrapped them, and presented them to the kids at Kindle.) Word on the street is that there were some excited kids there that night!

After the event, one of the moms wrote 12Stone to express her gratitude:

“I wanted to thank you from the bottom of my heart for putting on the event for single moms on December 18th! My 12-year old son loved it. He was so surprised and excited to get the exact gift that we had put on the sign-up sheet, it is like he could not believe that at such a big church, he was special, and he had a gift just for him with his name on it!  He kept saying ‘I just can’t believe it!’”

Gift Cards

The giving didn’t stop that night. The church also provided each of the 365 moms with a $100 gift card and asked them to pray and ask God to lead them to another single mom they knew, who was not a part of the 12Stone community, whom they could give the gift card to. They were encouraged to pass on the blessing they had received to someone else.

One of the moms explained her experience with giving away the gift card:

“As for the $100 gift card to give to another single mother, I had to really pray for God to lead me on who to give it to, and on this past Monday I gave the $100 gift card to another single mom. Yes, tears were shed, but they were tears of joy. She stated to me that the $100 dollars could not have come at a better time.”

The mom who received this gift card also sent a thank you card to 12Stone to convey her appreciation. “Thanks for the kindness you’ve shown my family this Christmas. Your acts of kindness have helped to restore the JOY of the Christmas season to my family.”

Special Assistance

The final phase allowed the single moms of 12Stone with special financial needs to apply for help. 210 women applied, and over $200,000 was given away! Donna Whitten, Director of Communications at 12Stone, expressed the joy she felt with being able to help. “It was just awesome to be able to do that – to help buy a vehicle, or fix one that they have, or to help with mortgage, or pay utilities for 6 months.”

Observe the thankfulness in this mom’s words:

“I just want to thank my 12Stone family from the bottom of my heart!!!  I haven’t had a vehicle in over 3 years, and thanks to Kindle, the Lord and my church family, you made it possible for us!  I received a call 2 days before Christmas from a staff member of 12Stone saying that with the funds left from Kindle, they were able to go to Toyota Mall of Georgia and purchase a VERY EXTREMELY nice used car for me and my children!  This truly is a wonderful blessing!  I cannot thank you enough!!!!”

In total, over 1000 people were directly blessed (and many, many more, indirectly) because 12Stone church has chosen to give themselves away. As you might also expect, they are currently giving themselves away to help the people in Haiti. If you would like to learn more about the church, please visit their online presence at www.12stone.com.

Thank you, 12Stone, for living out a faith that is real and helpful, and for making Gwinnett an even better place to live. By the way, how can I volunteer to be the official car-buyer for next year?

More on This Topic:

• I declare today is Pre-Inaugural, MLK, Gwinnett County Giving Day.