In Johnson City, Tennessee, near the northeastern tip of the state, Altar Fellowship Church paid off $8 million debt for their community. The divine catch is the non-denominational church was able to do it for only $50,000.

Partnering with Undue Medical Debt (formerly known as RIP Medical Debt), Pastor Mattie Montgomery lived out a dream he had to remove the burden of medical debt for people. He did it in the most significant way possible–buying medical debt from six surrounding counties.

“I want people to know that, in a moment of crisis, the place they need to get to is to be with a group of people who follow Jesus…That’s my hope: that the church can be the hands, feet, and wallet of Jesus to the world around us,” Montgomery said in an interview with The Christian Post.

The arrangement was a bulk purchase of 3,921 households in seven Tennessee counties. With Undue Medical Debt’s assistance, all medical debt was purchased, consolidated, and cleared for a remarkable price.

“Essentially, we became the collection agency for $8 million of medical debt,” Pastor Montgomery said in a media interview. “And then instead of pursuing it any further, we just sent a letter to everyone whose debt we had taken, and we just said, ’Hey, Jesus loves you, we love you. And it’s our privilege to cancel this debt entirely.’”

Now that Montgomery got the wallet part out of the way, the hands and feet were about to show up as well.

Medical Debt Becomes a Gateway to Salvation

Pastor Montgomery did indeed live out a dream, but it wasn’t his dream. It belonged to a member of his church named Carl Smith. As The Washington Times shares, Smith “was desperate” for a way to share the Gospel with his parents.

That’s when Altar Fellowship sent the Smith household a letter. The letter shared some thrilling news–his medical debt was paid off. Smith’s dad came to his room and said, “Hey, The Altar, your church, just paid off all my medical debt.”

That was the open door Carl was waiting to walk through and witness to his father about the Good News of Jesus Christ. In the letter was a link to a personal message provided to all recipients of the financial blessing.

Financial debt can be crippling and overwhelming, especially when that debt has been caused due to a medical emergency. We want you to know that you are loved and seen.

We pray this morning that when you opened your mailbox expecting to receive another notice or interest fee, that you see this letter and know that your debt has been paid in full because Jesus loves you.

– TheAltar.org/Debt

Undue Medical Debt shared the receipts from all seven counties near the church. In full, the unsecured medical debt was $7,936,457.03.