Local Church Pays Off Medical Debt For Nearly 2,000 Families

July 5, 2019

A church in Wyoming, Michigan, has paid off the medical debt for nearly 2,000 families.

church pays medical debt

Grand Rapids First announced that the church will be paying off the medical debt of 1,899 families, an amount that totals nearly $2 million. The church partnered with RIP Medical Debt, a nonprofit that purchases medical debt for pennies on the dollar, leaving the debtor with no bills or tax burdens.

"It took a $15,000 donation to help eliminate $1.8 million worth of medical debt that will never be able to be paid by these folks," said Sam Rijfkogel, the lead pastor of the church.

The families will be notified about the gift sometime next week through a letter from RIP Medical Debt. The recipient's identities are unknown, even to the church, because of medical privacy laws.

"We just want to show them that there are people out there that love you, and more importantly, God loves you. We're trying to show you that he does (love you) in this tangible way," Rijfkogel told WOOD TV.

"We're constantly looking for needs to serve the people and serve in the name of Christ. We just find a need and we fill it. That's exactly what we did."

Watch the video below.