Church Inspires With Major Act of Generosity for a Soldier and His Family in Need

"Words can't thank them enough."

A Georgia church is making headlines after raising $12,000 to acquire and renovate a vehicle for Sgt. Michael McKinney, a soldier whose family has hit tough financial times.

McKinney, a U.S. Marine until 2008, served four tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. Afterward, he joined the National Guard as a medic, but recently found out that another deployment to Afghanistan has been canceled.

While many military families might welcome this news, McKinney, who has a wife and four children, says they really needed the extra money, Atlanta's WGCL-TV reported.

With a lack of adequate income coming in and two broken-down cars, the family has been in dire straits.

So when C3 Church in Lawrenceville, Ga., learned of the McKinneys' troubles, congregants pitched in and purchased a 2007 Chrysler Town and Country and presented it to the family on Sunday.

Associate Pastor Jim Crumbley told TheBlaze that the church found the soldier and his family after reaching out to his National Guard unit and asking for guidance in finding a soldier in need.

"They said, unanimously, Sgt. McKinney," he said.

Despite the fact that McKinney has never attended the house of worship and doesn't know any of its leaders, the church still decided to give the generous gift.

"Jesus talked about who is a neighbor and the story of the good samaritan and we're just following that model," Crumbley added.

And the soldier is overwhelmingly appreciative of C3 Church's assistance.

"Words can't thank them enough. This [kind of gift] has never happened to us before," the soldier told WGCL.

The gift comes at a much-needed time. Currently, the soldier makes about $10 per hour as an emergency medical technician -- a difficult rate to support a family of five.

Crumbley, himself a former Marine, said that the church obtained a second vehicle for the family, but that McKinney said that the church should give it to another family in need.

"That was a high level of integrity on their part," the pastor told TheBlaze, noting that the vehicle will be donated to another individual in need.

The car donation was part of C3 Church's "Beyond Program," an initiative that helps people in need -- mainly single mothers.

(H/T: WGCL-TV)

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