The Investment That Brought a 10-Fold Return

When Charles and Julianne married they were both successful in their careers. Julianne was a sought after fashion model and Charles had more than 30 years of experience as a corporate executive in sales and engineering.

Charles remembers, “God has blessed me.  I've been all over the world.  I've met all kinds of people.  I've been involved in all kinds of businesses.”

But Charles had very different views of money and giving than Julianne did.

Charles says, “Well I was more about saving than giving.  I was focused on retirement.  I was a conservative spender.”

Julianne had been a long- time supporter of CBN. She continued giving to CBN after they married and says she had good reason why. She had almost died from an undiagnosed health condition.

Julianne says, “At 33, I suffered a brain aneurysm. I knew I was dying.  I called CBN for prayer.  And the surgeon that finally got me after a week of misdiagnosis told everyone that I had a better chance of winning the lottery than living. I actually did the cover of a magazine three weeks later.”

Early in their marriage, when Charles’ contract ended as an acquisition and merger advisor it led to a huge shift in their lives. Now back at home, Charles decided to start his own consulting company in investment banking.

Charles recalls, “It’s 100% commission and you get paid at closing. Sometimes it takes a long time to sell a business.  I'm suddenly faced with no paycheck coming in, insufficient money for retirement, there's a lot of concerns and fears.”

Julianne remembers, “It was scary.  We were in retirement age. If anything went down or dipped, our future savings would be in severe trouble.”

With no set income and little money coming in they cut back on their spending.

Julianne shares, “Here's a couple that was used to dining out in the finest restaurants, traveling the world. And going to sharing sandwiches, a real financial awakening.”

During this time, Charles and Julianne had bible studies together. One day, Charles asked her what tithing was.

Charles says, “And I didn't know how to pronounce it. I called it, ‘tething.’  And she laughed.”
Julianne says, “I told him tithing was bringing 10% to the storehouse.  It's God's money. So now when my stress level's here I'm looking at tithing as the absolute impossible request and timing. But actually it was the best time.”

Even though they weren’t making a lot of money they still made the decision to tithe to CBN.

Julianne shares, “We didn't really have a church home so we started tithing to CBN. I like the way they help people, like building wells.  Our money's not going to hand outs, it's hand up.  They're bringing quality to life starting with salvation.”

Chares shares, “And they also, help out here at home, military families that are struggling.”

Then in 2014, they gave CBN a check for $5,000. Within a couple of months of making the gift, Charles closed on a $50,000 consulting deal for his firm.

Charles says, “God rewarded us ten-fold, just like he said he would.”

And Julianne’s modeling career really took off.

Julianne recalls, “My income doubled. I did so many infomercials. it was unbelievable how money was coming in.  And at the right time.”

Today, Charles works as a merger and acquisition advisor for an investment banking company. And Julianne’s modeling career isn’t slowing down. They say they are in a great position to retire soon. They believe the reason they are so blessed is because they are givers.

Charles says, “All the money that we have is really the Lord's money.  He's just giving it to us temporarily.  So why would we not give to him back the 10% that he's asking for?”

Julianne says, “When you give to the Lord, whether it be faith, money, your hopes, your prayers, it comes back so strong you can't contain it.”