Pastors Jon and Debbie Callahan had had it on their hearts for a long time that Harvest Church needed to have its own church facility. Pastor Jon had been looking around for many months for property on which the church could build. In February, 1995, he found 20 acres of land available off of High Cross Road behind the former Pyramid Paper Company and contacted the owner. The asking price for the land was $80,000. Shortly afterward while visiting with Pastor Debbie’s father, Mr. Lowell Easter, Pastor Jon mentioned the land and the price. Mr. Easter asked if Pastor Jon was going to buy it because he himself felt led of the Lord to buy the land and give 5 acres to the church. Pastor Jon told Mr. Easter that if he, Mr. Easter, felt the Lord had told him to buy it he didn’t want to keep him from obeying the Lord. Mr. Easter is retired and not a wealthy man. However he stepped out in faith and took an $80,000 mortgage on his own home to buy the land. The price of the land was negotiated down to $70,000 and the closing on the sale of the land was accomplished in August, 1995.

After word got out that the land was being bought for the purpose of building a church, some people in the area contacted Mr. Easter to offer him $125,000 for the land. He could have had an instant $55,000 profit but he knew that the Lord had told him to buy the land so that he could give 5 acres to the church. He refused that offer but some people insisted that they wanted to have a buffer zone between themselves and the church. Mr. Easter finally acquiesced and wound up selling them 5 acres that were adjacent to their land for more than he had paid for the entire 20 acres. He still had a nice profit left over after paying off the mortgage he had taken on his house.

“Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever!”
—Psalms 106:1; 107:1; 118:1; 118:29;136:1

In September, 1995, Pastor Jon and Pastor Debbie went to a prophetic conference in Tulsa, Oklahoma. They had never met the speakers and the speakers did not know them but they were called forward and it was prophesied over them that the Lord had seen their hearts and their faithfulness; that He knew that their hearts’ desire was to have a permanent address and church building of their own, and that He was going to bring it to pass soon. The prophecy stated that the Lord would bring the people and provide the money as well as take care of any governmental restrictions that might interfere with His plans. At that time Harvest Church had less than 30 members. Now we have grown at a phenomenal rate. We received approval from the county, from the Urbana Planning Commission and the Urbana City Council.

We have now built our own new church building on the land the Lord miraculously provided behind the facility we had previously rented. The new facility is approximately 14,000 square feet with a sanctuary which seats 400. It includes a fellowship hall, offices for our pastors and church secretary, ministry suite, nursery area, church bookstore and classrooms for various ages of youth churches. The plans were drawn up to allow for the size of the facility to be doubled in the future as the need arises.

Our new church was dedicated on September 27, 1998, Praise The Lord!!! We invite you to visit us at one of our services. You will be welcomed warmly.

To gain a greater understanding of Pastor Jon’s and Pastor Debbie’s vision for Harvest Church, visit “The Vision” page.