Welcome to a thriving holiday gift market! This is Stacie's Bowie's creation: 15 separate markets a year with a thousand different vendors all over The Lone Star State, and it's growing! Stacie reported: "Customers absolutely love our market. They come to find unique gifts that they're not gonna find in the big box store."

Stacie's entrepreneurial breakthrough wasn't instant. She started her business in 2004 by crafting and selling homemade candles at regional markets. 

Stacie said: "By 2007, we were about 20,000 to 25,000 in debt from having to put booth fees, gas, and everything on credit cards. I would say I was really close to the point of bankruptcy."

Stacie wanted to get out of debt and put her business in the black. When she prayed about her business, she kept coming back to an idea: launch an artisan market. Stacie added: "One day, I was driving down the road, and I heard the Lord say: 'It's time.' And that was all I heard was, 'it's time.' The show took place in 2008. It was so good that we went in the office and booked a spring show and booked the vendors on site for a spring show." 

Then, while joining a new church, Stacie decided to commit to tithing. Stacie said: "I learned the importance of tithing. In Malachi three [verses 9-10], it says: 'Who would rob God?' And it says: 'If you are not giving tithe, you are robbing God.' And then He even goes further to say: 'Test me and see if I will not open the windows of heaven and pour out more than you can contain.' That was an eye-opener for me."

As Stacie tithed, Greg, her husband, felt indifferent but not opposed to her new financial priorities. Greg recalled: "She had her faith and I was seeing her faith growing."

Meanwhile, Stacie's business thrived, and her income soared; she wiped out their debts. Stacie continued: "From 2010 to 2014, [it] was pretty significant. We went from being in debt to the shows growing so fast that we were able to pay off credit cards. We had paid off our house in full; close to probably 2012 we paid off the cars and completely out of debt. I got a big contract for wholesale, for candles, and in 2014, I had a huge order for almost $50,000 wholesale and candles."

Despite Stacie's increased income, Greg knew he needed much more than a financial breakthrough. Greg said, "Getting my spiritual life in order was the most important thing. Thankfully, my wife led me to the Lord. And I actually made a conscious effort to establish and have a real relationship with Christ, having God at the center of my life every day."

Soon, Greg shared Stacie's enthusiasm for tithing and giving. Stacie added: "I think when Greg and I became in unity and one accord with our tithing, I think that's probably the biggest attribute to the growth that we started having because I would say things doubled or tripled after that." 

Within seven years of her first market, Stacie expanded her operation from one to five, attracting over 100 vendors at each event. In 2016, Greg took over their candle business. Within three years, he increased sales revenue by 25%. Stacie continued to add markets and vendors yearly so by 2024, she operates 15 of them across Texas.  

Stacie concluded: "If you have never been a tither, never give any kind of offerings or anything, I challenge you. Just like Malachi three says, 'test God,' try it. Be consistent and see what miracles he can do in your life."

Visit Stacie's Home for the Holidays Gift Market at: www.Homefortheholidaysgiftmarket.com.
 

Single mom Natalia escaped the war in Ukraine and fled to safety in Israel with her children. See how friends like you lifted the weight off this desperate family who had no one and nowhere to turn. 

Dennis Dixon has been fascinated with electronics ever since childhood. It all started when his mother gave him a walkie-talkie. He remembers, “I broke it on my birthday, and I was like, 'Ah, man, I can't tell her I broke it.' So I was like, 'I'm gonna try to fix it.' And I didn't know how to fix it. But I opened it up and I saw the inside and it just caught me. And I've always been interested with electronics since then.”

Soon he became the “go-to” person for friends and family with broken electronics. His father began to notice Dennis’s talent.

Dennis says, “And he was like, ‘You know, you could do something with this.’ So, he was like, ‘Let's post an ad and see what happens.’ And the phone just kept ringing. People kept calling and I'd fix one phone, then two phones, then they would tell their friends.” 

Dennis felt God prompting him to open a full-time business, but he took a job in sales instead and fixed phones for extra income. His dad taught him the importance of tithing on his income.

“Tithing is you trusting God with what He's given you and honoring Him, you know, 10% of the 100% that He gives us every day," says Dennis. “Setting aside money for God for His kingdom and for His purpose and learning how to trust God with everything you have including finances.” 

That trust was put to the test when the large electronics store he worked for went bankrupt. Dennis and his mother lost their jobs at the same time. Soon after, they lost their car and then, their house.

Dennis says, “I think from that moment I realized that faith wasn't just a feeling, but it was a reaction. Like how am I gonna choose to respond to this? Am I gonna panic or am I gonna continue to trust God? And I chose to continue to trust God. I chose to continue tithing and praying. Believing that He was gonna take care of us. And I would actually go above and give offerings just believing for God to, you know, do a miracle. I wasn't gonna allow my circumstances to destroy my faith.”

Dennis remembered God’s prompting to start his business full-time but didn’t think he was ready. He says, “My response was, ‘If that's what You want for me, make it to where that's the only option I have.'"

While out looking for a job, Dennis noticed a retail space for rent.  When he spoke with the owner she offered him a lease that gave him free rent for several months for his 'fix it' shop idea. “Man, I mean, it's all laid out for me. I just chose to do what God had been telling me to the whole time. Like He opened the door,” he says. 

Soon his ‘fix it’ business was up and thriving. He says, “Since I've been tithing, I've just seen like a ridiculous favor that just doesn't make sense. Like miracles would just happen. I would just see God provide in ways that I could–I know that in my wisdom or in my knowledge, I couldn't have made it happen by myself. And it's just favor.”

Dennis tithes to his church and also became a CBN Partner. “I count it an honor to be able to support an organization that is spreading the love of God to people in places that I can't necessarily be at, as a business owner. You know, they're on the front lines in ministry, meeting the needs of people all across the world. And that's a privilege to me,” says Dennis.

His business continues to grow and bless him beyond what he ever thought possible. He says, “God restored everything we lost and then some, a hundredfold. Like I never would have thought that I'd end up here, running my own company, making six figures, every day it's a blessing. And I'm just grateful and thankful for it.”

Runze wants to be a doctor when he grows up. “I want to be able to treat diseases and save people’s lives,” he explained.

Runze himself was born without his right pulmonary artery and an under-developed left artery. “The doctor said it was the worst kind of heart problem he could have,” his mother shared. “I knew that as his heart grew, he’d get worse.”

He never got enough blood to his heart so he got tired easily and couldn’t keep up with his classmates. Runze remembered, “My heart beat really fast. It felt like there was a big stone pressing against me, and I couldn’t breathe.” 

When he caught colds, they turned into pneumonia, landing Runze in the hospital at least once a month. One doctor said if we didn't get him a tube inside his artery, he’d ultimately suffocate and die from a lack of oxygen,” his mother remembered.

Once, Mrs. Xu thought she’d lost her son, until a doctor resuscitated him. She remembered, “He couldn’t breathe. His lips turned purple and he went limp in my arms. I shouted, ‘Runze, Runze,’ and shook him, but he didn’t respond.”

“My heart didn’t work,” Runze added. “I was afraid I would die and then I wouldn’t be able to be a doctor. The only thing that would cure me was surgery.”

Mrs. Xu raises Runze alone and had to work two jobs to try to save for surgery, yet it was never enough. All the while, she prayed and told her son about Jesus.

Runze shared, “My mother told me stories about Jesus every day, like how He healed the sick. I believe in Jesus and prayed for him to heal me.”

Then a doctor introduced Mrs. Xu to Operation Blessing, and you helped Runze get heart surgery.

“I cried and said, ‘God, this is your love,’ exclaimed Mrs. Xu. “When the doctor opened up Runze’s chest, they found that his heart valve wasn’t working at all. They repaired it and replaced the pulmonary duct. Now, all the complications from his heart disease are gone.”

Runze proclaimed, “I can run far now and play with the other kids without getting tired.”

His mother said, “When I was at the end of my rope, you pulled me out of despair. I’m very grateful to you.”

Runze concluded, “Thank you to the kind people at Operation Blessing. I know God heard my prayer and sent you to help me. I love you all!”