Easter egg hunt leads to offering for Decatur woman

Easter egg hunt leads to offering for Decatur woman

When Donna Campbell prayed for a way to help her church, she had no idea that her prayer would be answered so quickly and never dreamed that the answer would come in the form of an Easter egg.

Campbell’s church, Central Baptist, Decatur, in Morgan Baptist Association, was beginning a fund-raising campaign to buy property for relocation. A housewife with no income, she began praying for a way that she could have some money of her own to give to the Mission: Possible campaign.

“I got to thinking that if every person at Central would intentionally pray for God’s provision, He will provide,” Campbell said. “We don’t have to know where the money is coming from. God intends for us to come to Him for help and guidance. I was praying that God would show me what to do.”

Each year, just before Easter, The Decatur Daily newspaper hides an egg and then publishes daily clues to its location until someone finds it. The prize for finding the egg is $1,000.

Campbell had not thought about looking for the egg before. On April 3, as she finished praying about a way to give to Central Baptist’s building campaign, she noticed the picture of the egg in the newspaper. “I said, ‘Lord, is that what You want me to do? You want me to find that egg?’ I knew in my heart that He was going to lead me to it.”

Campbell told her family God would give her the $1,000 to donate to the church and began searching for the egg that day. The search continued through the next day, but she still came up empty.

Her prayers changed, however, after her daughters attended a cottage prayer meeting. When they returned home, Campbell asked them how it went.

One daughter responded, “It was really good,” while the other replied offhandedly, “We just prayed.”

Campbell was disappointed with her daughter’s response and attitude toward prayer. “God really used that,” she said. “I began to pray then that God would not just let me find the egg for the church but that He would reveal His power to my children through that egg.”

She didn’t stop there.

“I began to pray, ‘Lord, all I’ve been praying is to let me find this egg. That’s not what I want to pray any more. I just want You to be glorified, and I desperately want Your power to be revealed to my children,’” Campbell said.

The third day of her search — April 5 — she went to a local park. A number of other people were looking there, too, but no one was near  Campbell. Seeing a chipmunk, she moved closer to snap a picture and discovered the hiding place of the egg.

Pastor Rob Jackson said Campbell’s faith showed God’s power to work, both in her life and in that of the church.

“This Easter egg that Donna found is just a small glimpse of the power of God that is available to those who believe,” he said. “The same God who led her to find an Easter egg can raise up $14 million dollars for our church. She in her own power didn’t have $1,000. God had it and if she was willing to be used as His vessel, He was going to show her how to get the money.”

As Campbell drove toward the newspaper’s office to claim her prize, the air conditioner in her car stopped working. Undaunted, she renewed her determination to give all of the money to the church.

“I wasn’t going to let the devil defeat me,” Campbell said. “God is getting the glory out of this. I prayed that God would provide and He’s not finished providing.”