Pay It Foward

by Carole Marshall

"Dream with me," Pastor Denny Bellesi asked members of his church’s Missions Outreach team. And they did, giving him $10,000 in church funds and the go-ahead for a project that would reach far beyond one pastor and one parish.

The year was 2000, and Bellesi, founding pastor of Coast Hills Community Church in Aliso Viejo, Calif. (pop. 40,166), had just watched Pay It Forward, a movie about a boy challenged by a teacher to change the world. "I was about to begin a series on stewardship," he says. "The timing was perfect."

That November, Bellesi handed out $100 each to 100 members of his church. Referring to the biblical parable of the talents, he told them, "You must use this money to further God’s kingdom, and you must give an accounting and report in 90 days." Through the program designated "The Kingdom Assignment," parishioners applied their talents and turned the $10,000 into more than $500,000—and helped scores of people in the process.

Parishioner Terry Zwick matched the $100 with $100 of her own money and asked friends celebrating a birthday at a restaurant to do the same. When she left the party, Zwick not only had $1,800, but also the name of a woman who was in need of financial help. Zwick helped the woman pay her rent and purchase Christmas gifts for her children.

Zwick also went beyond the initial project by overseeing the development of Hope’s House, a shelter that helps families get back on their feet.

"From all the positive attention and great excitement from the Kingdom Assignment, it gave me an already prepared platform to share our dream for a women and children’s shelter," she says.

When Bellesi arranged the second Kingdom Assignment in 2001, he invited parishioners to sell something and bring the money to the church, a project that raised $120,000 for the county’s poor.

Church members Lou and Tamara Spampinato sold clothing, lamps and a dresser. "It’s enabled my husband and me to really use this as a teaching experience for our two children as well," Tamara says.

Also as part of the second assignment, Bellesi again handed out $100 each to 100 church members. Some chose immediately to invest their $100 in good works by buying food certificates or aiding specific families. Others figured a way to multiply their money to provide toys for a children’s hospital, goodies for senior center residents and camp scholarships for disadvantaged children.

One of the most affecting accomplishments was purchasing and repairing a home for a single mother, made possible through donations of materials, services and the real estate agent’s commission that went toward the home’s selling price. "I think the point is to empower the people to think outside the box in their endeavors to advance God’s kingdom," Bellesi says.

For the third Kingdom Assignment at Coast Hills Community Church, Bellesi asked for his parishioners to offer their time—to give 90 minutes in 90 days to someone the Scripture refers to as "the least of these."

"Giving doesn’t take a lot of money," Zwick says. "All it takes is compassion for someone in need."

Indeed, compassion is part of her husband’s makeup, Leesa Bellesi says. He is a "humble servant," she says of her husband of 30 years.

"When people work together, they are building upon a combination of gifts and talents that opens the floodgates for more results, if and when they work together and in cooperation to accomplish a common purpose," Denny Bellesi says.

The Bellesis have written two books—The Kingdom Assignment and The Kingdom Assignment 2—based on some of the experiences of the first two assignments. A third book is in the works. "With the books, we’ve gotten people all over the world doing Kingdom Assignments," Leesa says.

Today, Bellesi and his church members are continuing on with their charitable ways.

"Our people have taken this from success to significance," Bellesi says. "It has become a total lifestyle for our church."

Carole Marshall is a frequent contributor to American Profile.

first appeared: 11/28/2004