In a heartwarming gesture, a church in Lancaster County, South Carolina, decided to spread some holiday cheer by providing a generous Christmas gift to families burdened with medical debt in both North and South Carolina.
During services at Transformation Church’s Indian Land location on Sunday, December 22, lead Pastor Derwin Gray made a surprising announcement.
“Thanks to your incredible generosity, Transformation Church will be able to make a tremendous impact by relieving, eliminating, and eradicating a staggering $10 million worth of medical debt for individuals in North Carolina and South Carolina,” Gray enthusiastically announced.
The church has recently made an announcement during the Christmas season regarding their donations to local organizations. In the past two weeks, they have generously gifted $80,000 to the Women’s Enrichment Center in Lancaster, as well as $50,000 to A21 in Charlotte, an organization dedicated to putting an end to human trafficking.
Transformation Church has joined forces with the organization called “Undue Medical Debt” to provide assistance in relieving medical debt. They have generously donated $50,000 towards reducing the outstanding debt.
Pastor Derwin Gray expressed that the church recognizes the underinsurance, incapacity, or limited income of many individuals struggling with medical debt. From his perspective, the church should help them in any way possible.
“No one should be saddled with medical debt. It’s hard enough to be sick as it is, and so we want to bring some grace during the Christmas season and show them that Christ does indeed love them,” added Pastor Gray during a one-on-one interview.
According to Pastor Gray, the church aims to alleviate the burden of medical debt and bring hope during the Christmas season. In a one-on-one interview, he emphasized the importance of showing love and grace to those facing illness. The church, with its locations in Indian Land and Lake Wylie, has already managed to pay off over $25 million in debt since 2020. Pastor Gray expressed his desire to continue collaborating with organizations to reach the goal of relieving at least $100 million of medical debt for families throughout the Carolinas.
According to the Church and Undue Medical Debt, individuals eligible for local debt relief should have an annual income that is four times or below the federal poverty level. Another criterion for eligibility is having medical debt that exceeds 5% of a person’s yearly earnings.
The church made its announcement in response to N.C. Gov. Roy Cooper’s plan to alleviate medical debt for North Carolinians a few months ago.
