In May of 2011, Mt. Calvary United Methodist Church was searching for ways to build on its participation in mission trips. As a congregation, it was on our hearts to do more, to fund these trips as much as possible, and to service more communities in need. We held a seminar to discuss growth and outreach, and walking out of the meeting that day, one woman casually mentioned that it had been on her heart for six years to open a thrift shop to support our missions. A few of us had a brief conversation in the parking lot that day about what it might look like, but in reality none of us even knew where to start. We didn’t know what we were doing.

God obviously did.

Within two and a half months we had presented a plan to our church and received support, found usable space to rent, purchased shelving and clothing racks, registered our name, opened a bank account, solicited donations, and recruited volunteers. 

We held our grand opening on August 15, 2011. 

In those early days, we experienced many “God moments” getting the store up and running: an accountant stepping forward to help us with tax and banking issues; our landlord reducing the rent to an affordable amount and then giving us more space as we began to grow; needs being met before we could actually voice them. We had anticipated needing financial help from the church to pay rent and other expenses for up to a year. Within two months we were able to pay all of our bills without the church’s help. 

And the God moments haven’t stopped.