Community Christian Church

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100 Days, 100 Volunteers, and 100 Dollars

Members use money to aid those in need

Published April 5, 2005 - The Naperville Sun

By: Ron Pazola- Naperville Sun Staff Reporter

In November, Pastor Dave Ferguson of Community Christian Church in Naperville handed out $100 bills to 100 volunteers with the understanding that they had 100 days to use it. The assignment was based on the book “Kingdom Assignment” by Denny Bellesi, a pastor in Southern California who gave cash to people in his congregation so they could invest the money to build God’s kingdom.

A man at Community Christian was so moved by the book that he donated $10,000 to the church so some of the members of the congregation could take part in a similar assignment. “It has been an awesome privilege to be part of the Kingdom Assignment and to see the whole experience unfold,” Ferguson said. “I know these experiences will be an encouragement as we realize all that we have comes from God.”

The volunteers came together recently to videotape an account of their experiences. They will soon receive a copy of the tape, as well as a bound copy of the written versions of their encounters and feelings. Some of the volunteers used the money to help sick or abused children or needy families. Others got involved with family shelters or service organizations, such as Hesed House in Aurora or the Key Club — a branch of the Kiwanis Club. One woman collected more than 1,000 handmade greeting cards, as well as gift and phone cards, and sent them to U.S. soldiers in Iraq. And various people decided to raise money for some of the ministries at Community Christian.

Christine MacDougall, a teacher at Mooseheart — a residential childcare facility near Batavia — gave her Kingdom money to her brother, who ministers to inmates at a prison in Rockford. He used the cash to buy Christmas gifts for some of the children of the prisoners. “My husband and I had all kinds of ideas on how to use the money, but nothing felt right until my brother’s name came up,” MacDougall said. The Kingdom Assignment wasn’t so much about money as it was about encouragement. My brother felt encouraged because he knew we were thinking of him.”

Jeanell Allan, a hairdresser in Naperville, raised money for a teenage girl with cancer. The girl, now 16, was diagnosed with leukemia when she was 3. Although she was cancer-free for years, doctors recently found tumors. “I felt so bad for her, and I wanted to do something to help,” Allan said. In February, she used the Kingdom money to hold a concert in which area bands performed to raise money for the girl. The concert brought in $13,000.

Heila Rowan, a stay-at-home mom in Naperville, also used the $100 to help a sick person. “We’ve lost six family members in the last three and a half years,” Rowan said. “My husband’s aunt in South Africa has breast cancer, and we decided to help her.” Rowan spent $25 of her Kingdom money to print her aunt’s story and went door to door in her neighborhood asking for donations. She raised $3,000. “I learned that we shouldn’t be embarrassed to ask people for help, Rowan said. “People are open to help you.”