Miracle Days Begin

1998

Miracle Days was a joint mission venture between the National Benevolent Association and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in local cities and across Disciples regions and areas of the church. The concept, spearheaded by Rev. Dr. Ben Bohren, then NBA Director of Church Relations, was the Disciples’ version of the old Amish “barn raising.” The miracle: to complete a major project of some physical nature at a Disciples church building, mission center, or campground in one day, thanks to the labor of a large number of Disciples volunteer workers.

Read Ben’s noted “Miracle Day Beatitudes” >>

Hear more from Ben on Miracle Days (video) >>

In 1998, the first year of Miracle Days, five Miracle Days included:

11 church worksites located across Jacksonville, FL; Tacoma, WA; St. Louis, MO; Indianapolis, IN; and Phoenix, AZ;
1,107 Disciples volunteers; and
91 participating Disciples congregations.

In subsequent years, Miracle Days sites included churches, campgrounds, mission centers, and daycare centers, across more than 20 Disciples regions. By 2001, the NBA was helping to host Miracle Days “triple-headers,” events happening at multiple worksites simultaneously. On one October day in 2001, Miracle Days took place in Pittsburgh, the Ozark Lakes, and communities in St. Louis, with 938 volunteers laboring to improve, remodel, and repair seven Disciples churches and one Disciples campground. More than $70,000 was raised for that one day of work and supplies alone!

As of 2016, there have been well over 60 Miracle Days all across the United States, with more than 15,000 people participating. “Miracles begin with people,” says Eula Pagdilao, a 2015-16 NBA XPLOR Resident who organized the May 2016 Miracle Day with the Christian Church in Northern-California Nevada Region at Oakland Peace Center. “People who envision changes. People who are willing to offer their time and their talent to plan to execute those changes. And people who help carry out that plan. Without these people, there is no miracle day; there is no miracle.” Read more!