The amazing way that God provided the original twenty-acre Headquarters site is a powerful confirmation of Christ’s command: “Give, and it shall be given unto you” (Luke 6:38). When I gave all of my money to God, He began providing for the work of His Kingdom.

One Saturday morning after our radio broadcast, I was driving some young people home. As I turned north on Adams Road, I was impressed with the beauty of this country-like setting, and I said, “I sure would love to buy some property out here and have a training center for young people!” From the back seat, I heard one of the young people, Juanita Turek, say: “My father wants to sell our home. It is on five acres and has a big barn on it.” Later I returned and talked to Mr. Turek. We agreed on a price, but he said: “Before you buy this property, you had better check with the woman across the road. She would not want any teenagers out here.” I decided to walk over and talk to her. Before I left, Mr. Turek warned me, “She will probably run you off her property with a shotgun!” I stopped and prayed for protection and then walked across the road to her front door.

Birth of a Vision

When I knocked on the door, I heard a stern woman’s voice demand, “Who are you, and what do you want?” I replied, “My name is Bill Gothard, and I would like to buy the property across the road, but I wanted to check with you first.” She replied, “Just a minute.” She went over to her gun case, picked out a shotgun, and loaded it. Then she gave it to her twenty-eight-year-old daughter, who stuck its barrel through the curtains of a window and aimed it right at me! Then she slipped out the door and said, “Now, tell me again who you are and what you want!” I explained that I had dedicated my life to work with young people, and I wanted to have a place where I could train them. She exclaimed, “How do you work with young people?!”

As I described the work of teaching them the commands of Christ, she became interested and finally asked a startling question: “What is wrong with this property?” I looked out over the beautiful twenty-acre state with a small lake on it, surrounded by woods, and exclaimed, “Why, nothing!” To my total surprise, she stated: “When we get through using it we are going to give it away! Why don’t we give it to you?” I thanked her in amazement and promised to keep in touch. I made a point to stop in and visit her from time to time, always wondering if she were through using her property.

Death of a Vision

Finally she called me up one evening after eight years of waiting! She began by saying: “Bill, I know that I promised to give our property to you. However, we have been offered $125,000 for it, and we think we should sell it. Is there any way that you could match this offer?” In the early 1960s, that seemed like an astronomical amount of money and way above our ability to pay. I said, “We would not be able to pay that much money, so if you feel that you must sell the property, then I release you from your promise.” She thanked me and we ended the conversation.

Soon the property was sold to Phil Dressler, a builder, and Lou Main, a lawyer. We were just beginning the Basic Seminar at that time, and the office in the recreation room of my home was becoming too small for the printing of materials and the management of the Seminar. So I called Lou Main and asked if they would be willing to sell the property. He responded: “Yes! We just decided to sell it!” I asked, “How much do you want for it?” He said, “Two hundred and sixty thousand dollars!” I was shocked and cautiously commented, “That is over twice what you paid for it just two years ago.” He responded, “Yes, I know it is. However, we also know that it is worth more than that!”

Double Death of a Vision

Then Lou said, “Why don’t you come over to my office and we will talk about it.” This was a double death of my vision! When I arrived at his office, he began the conversation by stating, “Now, I am not an atheist or anything like that, but how can you be so sure about God?” I answered, “There are many ways that I know the reality of God, but one that might be of greatest interest to you is how God provides funds for us in exact amounts on the day that they are needed!” He stated, “Give me an example!” After I gave him an example, he said, “Give me  another one!”

We spent the next five hours rehearsing the supernatural ways that God had provided money in direct answer to prayer and without our letting anyone else know of the need.  Finally, Lou said: “Wait a minute! You have been telling me all these stories of how God has provided small amounts of money for you. How is He going to give you $260,000 to buy the land?” I listened to the following words come out of my mouth: “We serve a big God. He is just as able to provide big amounts as little amounts.” Lou exclaimed, “If God gives you $260,000, even I will believe!” I silently thought to myself, “So will I!” The largest amount that we had ever received was the $10,000 from Dr. Ken Taylor. 

The next week, I received a letter from a dentist in Seattle, Washington, Dr. Ken Murakami. He explained how the Basic Seminar had transformed his life and family and then informed me that they were selling property near Mt. Rainier and would be sending the money to the Institute for our ministry! The amount that they were going to receive for their land was $260,000! I quickly drove over to the attorney’s office and handed him the letter with the comment, “You might like to read this!” As he read it, his eyes got bigger, and he exclaimed, “I believe!” He did not mean that he just believed that God had provided the exact amount. He was saying that he believed that Jesus truly was the Son of God, and He wants to be our Lord and Savior.

This excerpt was taken from chapter two of Mr. Gothard's new book, The Amazing Way.