Church's Easter Gift to Residents Is Worth $2.2M

It was a very happy Easter for 1,600 Kansans, all of whom had their medical debt paid off by a Wichita church. Pathway Church paid off $2.2 million in debt, KAKE reports. It explained why on Facebook Monday: "This Easter, we sent a special piece of mail to all 1,600 Kansans who fell into a hardship category determined by RIP Medical Debt. We let them know that in Jesus’ name, their medical debt had been forgiven," it reads. "Jesus did the same thing on the cross when He declared 'it is finished.' The debt of our sins, that we could not pay, had been forgiven!"

As KWCH explains, the church worked with the RIP Medical Debt charity, which purchases medical debt for pennies on the dollar. That means every dollar can pay off $100 of medical debt. To pay off the debt, the church used some of the money it would typically use to promote its Easter services, and sent the letters about the debt payoff to the 1,600 recipients instead of a typical piece of mail simply inviting them to attend the Easter services. "We may never meet you, but as an act of kindness in the name of Jesus Christ, your debt has been forgiven," the letters read. The church says any negative impact the debt had on a person's credit history was also erased with the debt payoff. (Another awesome story involving the charity here.)