by Rebecca Kocsis
Several years ago, in 2015 to be exact, when CHEA was in a financial crisis much like we are today, the Lord ministered 1 Kings 17 to me. The prophet Elijah had just declared to King Ahab there would be no rain or dew in Israel until he gave the word. True to his word, there was no rainfall in Israel. After that, God directed Elijah to go to Zarephath where He had instructed a widow to feed him. Unfortunately, the widow was reluctant to feed the prophet. By that time, the drought had become so severe, she only had a little wheat and a little oil left for her and her son’s last meal. Then she expected they would die.
Yet, the prophet assured her, “Do not fear; go, do as you have said, but make me a little bread cake from it first and bring it out to me, and afterward you may make one for yourself and for your son. For thus says the Lord God of Israel, ‘The bowl of flour shall not be exhausted, nor shall the jar of oil be empty, until the day that the Lord sends rain on the face of the earth.’”
I believed that promise was also for CHEA. Since then He has been faithfully providing for us bit by bit, day by day. The Lord hasn’t often sent us large amounts of money at one time. Over the years we have received a few large grants and donations, but those have mostly gone by the wayside since the pandemic began. And large foundations do not yet see the value in giving to homeschool associations. As a rule, we receive our support in small increments from you, the homeschool community: $15 here and $20 there, interspersed with memberships. Most of those are $35. We also have a few faithful families that give on a monthly basis. What a blessing that is!
Maybe you are like the widow of Zarephath. You only have a little and yet you’ve given faithfully and sacrificially to support this ministry. We are so grateful for your faithfulness all these years. Being homeschoolers ourselves, we know you sacrifice much to disciple your children.
I’ve often wondered exactly what “the day the Lord sends rain on the face of the earth” was going to look like. I’ve been watching and waiting. I feel like I’ve been Elijah’s servant—on the lookout for rain clouds on the horizon.
It’s certainly been “raining” new homeschoolers since the onset of the pandemic! We are helping more families than ever. Parents have had a good look at their children’s public education and said, “Enough. These are my kids!” Though we are helping more and more families, the day-by-day support is dwindling. It will no longer sustain this ministry.
The other day I had the thought, “Pray for rain.” How simple, and how obvious. Instead of watching and wondering, pray. I believed that was the Lord. So I did. And I asked the rest of Team CHEA to pray, too. We’ve been praying earnestly ever since.
In 1 Kings 18 we read that Elijah sent his servant seven times to go look for clouds out over the sea. Finally, on the seventh time, the servant saw a little cloud. Do you know it’s been seven years since we received that original promise?
Now we have received a pledge of $40,000 in matching donations in honor of CHEA’s 40th Anniversary! Then another $5,000 to match to add to that. There’s our raincloud!
We’ve seen some serious rain drops since we first announced the matching donations at the end of last week. Can you give generously to support this ministry that supports and protects homeschool freedom for families like yours? Your gift will have double the impact.
Help us spread the word far and wide, that now is the best time to support CHEA.
The rain is coming! We are praying earnestly for a heavy wind (of the Holy Spirit) to bring a terrific rainstorm the likes of which was seen in Elijah’s day. You can be a part of this miracle.
Will you be a part of the rain?