According to reports, the church partnered with RIP, a well renowned nonprofit organization that helps to purchase medical debts for pennies on the dollar, leaving the debtor with no bills or tax burdens.
According to Sam Rijfkogel, the lead pastor of the church, a $15,000 donation was made which played a vital role in eliminating medical debts of around 1,899 families amounting to nearly $2 million spent.
He also stated that families would be notified of the gift through a letter from RIP Medical Debt. Due to medical privacy laws, the identities of the recipients will not be disclosed.
According to Rihifkogel, this gesture is to show to the families that God truly loves them. He said “We just want to show them that there are people out there that love you, and more importantly, God loves you. We’re trying to show you that he does (love you) in this tangible way,”
He also added “We’re constantly looking for needs to serve the people and serve in the name of Christ. We just find a need and we fill it. That’s exactly what we did.”
Even though the identities of the families are unknown, they are mostly from Michigan counties of Kent, Ottawa, Allegan and Ionia.
“They owe us nothing,” Rijfkogel said. “Just like Jesus, we can be peacemakers too. In the bible, Jesus cancelled and forgave the sins of those in the community. We are following his doctrines and obeying his laws”
“Today, about $1,832,439.26 that was looming over the families have been paid in full as a gift of love to the families” said Rijfkogel, who added that they were able to help 1,899 local families from around Michigan.