While in Natchez, Mississippi some years back, I saw workers hauling dirt from a side of a huge mountain; a big chunk of the mountain was gone. Then I remembered the story – Mountain Moving Faith – that I had read several years ago, and I wish to share the story with you.
This story, though not documented, has been published in books, one in particular, “19 Gifts of the Spirit” by Leslie B. Flynn. The same story has also floated in the Internet to beautifully illustrate the point in the Holy Scriptures that when we pray, sometimes the answer may not right away become known, but if we truly believe, miracles can certainly happen.
Matthew 17:20 says….So Jesus said to them, “I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.”
I did some more research because I want to share the story with real names and date. And so here is the real story.
“Faith That Moved a Mountain”
In 1973, a small church congregation in Route 46 in Netcong, New Jersey built a new sanctuary on Kingtown Mountain. Ten days before the new church was to open, the local building inspector informed the pastor that the parking lot was inadequate for the size of the building.
Until the church doubled the size of the parking lot, they would not be able to use the new sanctuary. Unfortunately, the church with its undersized parking lot had used every inch of their land except for the mountain against which it had been built. In order to build more parking spaces, they would have to move the mountain out of the backyard.
From the booklet “1943-1973 From Maple Avenue to the Mount” is a chapter: Faith to Move Our Mountain, it reads in part:
“The finishing of the area around the church was completely up to the local people. There began to be some serious thinking about the parking lot. Not that there had not been some thinking already done, but we had been told by the Roxbury Planning Board that they would not grant permanent occupancy until there was sufficient parking in the rear. It did not have to be black-topped. Gravel would do.
“It became evident that even with all the fill needed in front of the church, we had a problem of far too much dirt. In fact, it was a mountain where a second and third parking lot should be. The cost of removing this mountain would be prohibitive for the church. But wait, had not the Lord promised that a mountain would be moved by faith? The next Sunday morning Pastor Crawford reminded the congregation of Christ’s promise, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. (Matt. 17:20). Then he added, If you believe that, come on Wednesday night to pray with me that God will move this mountain in the back of our church.
“The next morning the phone rang. It was the telephone company. They were planning to erect a new building just east of us and they needed fill for a large swampy area. Could we sell them some dirt? Well of course! And Pastor Crawford was sure our dirt would have the right proportions of clay, sand and rock for the fill they needed. In about a month the phone company had hauled away 40,000 square yards of our dirt, for which they paid the church $25,400, and also levelled the ground for the required three parking lots and prepared them for paving. The Lord makes good on His promises and He knows where to find the answer we need.”
Pastor Crawford died several years ago, and the Church on the Mount has grown from 200 to more than a thousand in attendance.
We want answers to our prayers but often, doubt clouds our minds and disbelief sets in. We have to remember that it only takes faith as small as a mustard seed to move huge mountains of problems in our lives.