His Income Was Cut in Half, But Their Faith Never Wavered

If you ask Neil and Allison Anderson, they will say obedience is the key to walking with God. When they became Christians in 1994, they embraced every aspect of what the Bible taught.

Neil explained, “Once we started diving into the Bible and reading certain things, we realized that there are certain benefits of doing these things. Whatever the Lord had placed on our heart to do at that time, that's what we did. We just, we kind of like follow instructions.

The couple found a church, got baptized, and started tithing. They learned to live on the remaining 90% of their income, trusting God would meet their needs.

Allison said, “He's asking us to give the first to prove obedience to Him, to trust Him. I just had to reevaluate what we were doing with our money and adjust. Was it easy? No, until we got a hang of it and then it became second nature.”

In 2006, Allison came across the 700 Club. The stories about helping orphans, giving people clean water, and rebuilding lives inspired her.

“They were doing the work that I couldn't do,” said Allison. “They were helping thousands of people around the world and, for a few dollars I can do that, I'm on board.”

She told Neil about CBN and they decided to join. One thing that Neil found compelling was Pat Robertson’s thought process when making life-changing decisions.

Neil said, “He was obedient to God. God told him to do certain things and he just packed up and moved. And when you look into his story,  I'm going like, ‘Wow, that's amazing.’"

That challenged them to trust and obey God no matter their circumstances, including when Neil’s hours as a machinist were cut and his income was halved. From late 2008 thru 2009, they tightened their budget yet never decreased their giving to their church or CBN. The results even surprised them.

Allison said, “We never missed a bill. We were never late. It had to be God. Going through that experience, um, of natural resources being cut back, you know Who your source is and Who your provider is, you have no choice but to want to get to know Him more.”

Neil added, as he held back tears of gratitude, “I know personally God is my provider. Never one time did we ever say, ‘God, no, we can, we gotta back out.’ Our long-term investment is investing in giving back to God what He said to do.”

Today, although retired, the Andersons continue to plant seeds of love, hope, and healing through their gifts to CBN. 

Allison said, “It was just so many things, the cleft palates, and then they would be digging wells and water for people who didn't have clean water, or provided a little stove that they could cook rice and sell in the market. But being able to give to the 700 Club and be able to literally see what is being done with the money, it's amazing that I can do that. We can do that, you know, by just giving a little.”    

Neil said, “Stop getting a coffee every single morning, and take that same money and put it into God's hand and watch and see what God does. Test Him and see what He does. Give to CBN. They are doing the work of the Lord.”