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An Unexpected Boost

An Assemblies of God church in Louisiana has received an unexpected blessing to help pay for its roof repairs.

As a result of a prayer time at the annual Church Multiplication Network (CMN) conference in March, Saints Community Church in Metairie received a donation of $40,000 for repairing its roof.

Speaker Bianca Olthoff asked attendees to raise their hands if they were dealing with roof problems. Wayne A. Northup, pastor of Saints Community, attending with his wife, Kristi, did so.

“I hesitantly lifted my hand and Bianca asked people to come pray with anyone who had their hands lifted,” recalls Northup. “We had several people come over and pray for us and I began to weep. All the pain of 2020 swept over me. The loss of momentum from COVID, a recent staff transition that was hitting me hard, and just knowing that God was with us even down to the details of caring about the roof situation just broke me.”

After the prayers, Olthoff encouraged those willing to financially help anyone who had a roof situation.

“At that point I was really embarrassed that I had raised my hand,” Northup, 46, admits. “I did not want to take money from any of my friends, who I know all had their own situations going on.”

Fellow attendees Truston W. Baba, lead pastor of Living Church in Mansfield, Texas and Whitney Barth, the congregation’s executive pastor, prayed with the Northups. Consequently, Living Church made the $40,000 contribution.

“I began to weep uncontrollably again,” Northup says. “Truston began to talk about how I had changed his life when he was younger and how honored he was to return the favor.”

Baba, 39, didn’t realize at first that he was praying for the Northups because he approached them from behind.

“While we were praying, I felt the Lord say, Meet the need! Give them a boost,“ Baba recounts. “When we were done praying, they turned around and to my surprise, it was pastors Wayne and Kristi. When I was a young man, they gave me a boost, an opportunity while leading missions trips in New Orleans where they now pastor.”

The Northups planted Saints Community in 2011 with the help of CMN and the AGTrust Matching Fund.

In January 2020, Saints Community Church adopted First Assembly of Greater New Orleans, taking over its 30,000-square-foot-facility. That building needed roof repairs.

“The problem was what we estimated for a roof repair came back almost double what we had anticipated,” Northup says. “This donation made it possible for us to accomplish everything we need to do.”

Baba believes Living Church’s donation was providential.

“The money we gave to Saints Community came out of the funds we had saved to use to break ground on a new building,” he says. “Though we don’t know what God has in store for Living Church next, we know that this seed will produce a great harvest for the kingdom of God.”