Church Raises $100,000 To Pay Off College Debt For 34 Students

February 17, 2019

A church in Alexandria, Virginia, raised more than $100,000 to help dozens of college students pay off their outstanding debt.

The Alfred Street Baptist Church held a month-long fast to raise the money which paid off the debt for 34 students before their May graduation.

Rev. Dr. Howard-John Wesley, the pastor of the church, asked his 8,000-member congregation to fast not only with their diets but also with social media and their finances.

"We said we would pray as a church to what the Lord was telling us to do [with the money] and that we would donate it 100 percent outside of the church," Wesley told Good Morning America.

Once the decision was made to help college students, the church made a video where they told the students who were chosen that their debt was forgiven.

The entire congregation was just moved to tears," Wesley said.

"We heard the Lord say we ought to do something good for some people who are ready to graduate so we came over here to Howard, pulled out the names of seniors who had some holds to their account just because the balances were leftover after financial aid and all that and just want to let you know that your account has been paid in full," Wesley tells a student in the video. "You're clear to graduate, on behalf of Alfred Street Baptist Church. Go do amazing things in the world and know that we took care of the account for you."

One of the students said her mom is going to scream when she hears the good news.

"We were in the car, like homeless," she said. "It was never one night, I never saw her stop praying, like she kept praying and praying and praying, and like her courage, even though we were at the low of the low, she still believed in God and she still believed that there's going to be some miracle that's going to happen that we're going to get out of this situation."

Watch the video below.