Buck-a-Week Fundraiser

by Kent Anderson, West Bay Covenant Church, MI

Buck-a-Week. The name may not be all that catchy, but it is accurate. Buck-a-Week is the name of the effort our church has undertaken to help fund the sending of Bibles to the persecuted church around the world. For all my expectations for what our church could do with this program, the results have far, far exceeded my hopes.

The question I asked my congregation was how many of you waste a dollar every week? The truth is we probably waste more than one, maybe we fritter away many dollars each week. What if we could redeem one of the dollars for the cause of Christ? How about we give one dollar per week, or Buck-a-Week to fund a specific ministry? We have a member of the church who is passionate about the persecuted and wanted to send Bibles to those suffering people. What could we do? My initial hope was that by the end of 12 months, (we started in May of 2021) we would have may be over $1000. If my dreams were pushed a little, maybe we could reach $1500.

Well, almost 21 months, we have received $7361! We have sent money to almost every corner of the world through ministries like Voice of the Martyrs, Wycliff, and others. We purchased 110 copies of the First Nations Version of the New Testament and gave them to the Odawa and Ottawa tribes in our area. We gave $1500 to fund a translation of the Bible into the language of a tribe through Wycliff. We select a ministry for each quarter and then we send out the money at the end of those three months. Members are welcome to suggest various ministries to give to, but the focus is always about giving Bibles to those churches who are in great need.

God has ignited the imagination and hearts of our small congregation (we are around 40 people each Sunday). This has been His doing and we are enjoying seeing Him work. I don’t know how long we will continue this effort, but for right now we just keep going. This is so easy to do. Find something you are passionate about for the Kingdom, and raise the challenge and opportunity. Have a box or some other receptacle in a very visible spot and highlight it often before the congregation. Celebrate what God will do in your church. 100% of the funds raised, go the ministry.

Buck-a-Week, maybe it is a goofy name, but the result for our church have been awesome.