I will ... open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. Mal. 3:10
The new LED sign on the campus of Columbia Adventist Academy (CAA), a gift from the class of 2014, quickly relayed good news to the community that the capital campaign for the administration building was over. This landmark, the last in a string of miracles, was realized over alumni weekend, the result of completing a $100,000 match made possible by a group of alumni and friends.
At the worst possible time — the onset of the 2008 economic downturn — the original building project was initiated with an estimated cost of $6.2 million. In the end, after many unexpected twists and turns, the project’s total was close to $8 million. While not your "typical miracles," many events along the way culminated in this final one: lead donors who prayerfully provided the foundation to make it possible to begin the project.
There was Back to School Night and Thanksgiving events that each raised more than $100,000. A donor added $50,000 for a principal's shaved head. Donors shared funded the plan for the principal to run the Shamrock Run in the Kodiak bear suit alongside students. Unexpected gifts of stocks, old coin collections and boxes filled with rolls of $100 bills showed up. Alumni responded to the alumni decade challenge and brought in almost $1 million. Others provided financial support when staff "struck oil" in old underground kerosene tanks while excavating, which necessitated an unforeseen and expensive environmental cleanup. Unexpected last-minute calls by different donors provided funding to capture the full amount when matching dollars were available. The unexpected sale of property when there was a $17,000 payment due and only $20,000 in the bank, prompting Greg Jackson, CAA accountant, to say that it "proved once again that God is never late but seldom early by our standards.”
One of the greatest blessings was the consistent charity from committed supporters who had made pledges. Ranging from 20-year-old entrepreneurs to 90-year-old widows, they showed the miracle of God's people working together. The list could go, on but to loosely paraphrase John 21:25, "There are also many other things which Jesus did, which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the [Gleaner articles] that should be written."
The new LED sign relays the good news that the CAA capital campaign for the new administration building is over.
