Generous Pismo Beach New Life Community Church
Oliver R. Phillips

Pismo Beach, California-Just days following Hurricane Katrina's catastrophic hit on the Gulf Coast, Senior Pastor Ron Salsbury and the New Life Community Church of the Nazarene in Pismo Beach, California planned to take a "special offering" for hurricane relief. The collection was set for September 4, the first Sunday after the disaster.

"On Thursday morning [September 1]," Salsbury said, "I had a strong sense that God was calling us to do more ... to give it ALL." Salsbury then had a phone vote taken of the Church Board of Directors to determine if the church could give the entire offering to hurricane relief and trust God to help them catch up in the weeks ahead.

The vote was unanimous. "In the Saturday night and both Sunday morning services, I challenged our people to give generously and that 100 percent of the offering was going to go to hurricane relief," Salsbury stated. "They broke out in thunderous applause in each of the three services."

The church collected more than $120,000 that weekend. The second weekend following Katrina, there was more than $20,000 marked for hurricane relief. According to Salsbury, included in this amount was $130 in cash from a nine year-old girl who made and sold Bible bookmarks, $300 from a group of young boys who sold cookies, $1,000 from young people who held a car wash, and $23 from a five year-old girl who emptied her piggy bank-all with the intent of helping victims of Katrina.

The $140,000 donation to Nazarene Compassionate Ministries is the largest single donation ever received by the organization from one church. As it is with every donation, 100 percent went directly to aid Katrina survivors.

In addition to monetary giving, Salsbury said the church passed out Crisis Care Kit bags those first two weeks and has since sent more than 1,000 Crisis Care Kits for hurricane relief.

Also, the church's high school ministries decided to forgo their Winter Retreat this year in favor of a Work and Witness trip to the Gulf Coast instead.

And what of the church's budgetary concerns after giving up an entire week's offering? "Our regular giving has not suffered," Salsbury reports. "In fact, it is ahead of budget!"

"We are blessed to be able to help," Salsbury said of his church-one of the largest Nazarene churches in the U.S. "And as pastor, I could not be more proud of my people!

"It's all about Jesus."

--NCNNews.com (Note: All funds expressed in U.S. dollars)