Photo Courtesy of SEARER FAMILY Christian Searer (right) poses with wife, Jessica, and daughter, Lucy.

Starts non-profit and opens ministry building after fateful encounters

LEWISTOWN – Christian Searer’s inspiring story will remind you of the strength that only faith and hope can provide.

But the 31-year-old Thompsontown native’s story of overcoming circumstance and becoming a voice in the community leaves him almost speechless when describing the incredulous events that have transpired over the past year.

God working in mysterious way is the only way to account for how Searer and his wife, Jessica, could start the non-profit Psalm 72, find a home to live in rent free and purchase and remodel a ministry building, all with no funding available.

“The fact that God gave us this building; it blows my theology out of the water,” explained the 31-year-old Searer, who started Psalm 72, a kingdom-driven non-profit ministry committed to revival, discipleship and the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

“I’m just a normal Christian, who reads The Bible,” Searer added. “I was radically saved in 2021. I gave my life to Jesus. I quit my addictions, and I followed him with everything I got. I give the glory to God.”

The opportunity to allow God to use situations that seemed impossible to overcome is something that we all can share. These amazing stories of faith and hope are meant to be an encouragement that even when it seems the time is the darkest, God can still move mightily if we allow Him.

“We are committed to building a culture of presence, prayer, teaching, and sending,” Searer said. “We believe revival isn’t a fleeting moment — it’s a lifestyle that grows when believers are equipped, empowered, and mobilized together.”

Months later, there are moments when Searer is walking through Psalm 72’s ministry building and he stops in his tracks. He can’t wrap his head around what has happened over the past year – try as hard as he might.

After getting married to wife, Jessica, in March 2022, Searer founded Psalm 72 in May to unify the body of Christ, reach the lost and send believers into their God-given callings.

In October 2024, a string of unbelievable events followed as God spoke out to Searer during a personal prayer session in the basement of his in-laws’ house. “God spoke to me and said in three months, I’m going to move you and your family to Juniata County … I’m giving you a house near where you grew up.”

Searer tried to keep the faith but admits he was skeptical, especially when nearly three months had passed. However, at the last minute, through his church – River Church of Mifflintown – the Searers were connected to a man in Port Royal who was looking for a caretaker of his house in exchange for living there rent-free.

“We were just out eating pizza, and someone asked if we knew anybody who would want to live in the house,” Searer recalled of the initial encounter at a pizza shop. The Searers who were looking for a new place to live at the time just looked at each other in disbelief. They had never met the property owner, who had approached a friend of theirs, and asked if he knew anyone who would want to live in the house.

After talking to the home owner, the Searers agreed to his simple terms.

A short time later, Searer was praying again when God told him that he would be the recipient of a ministry building. That turned out to be the former Church of the Brethren, located at 134 Shaw Ave. in Lewistown.

The property was up for sale and listed at $100,000. Searer put together a presentation about how Psalm 72 would use the church, turning the basement into a school as well as lodging for missionary students.

While their development plan seemed logical, they didn’t have any funding. “This is our offer – we want the property for free,” Searer quipped. “It’s not much of an offer. They asked us about our organization and our ministry. We walked out of the meeting feeling confident.”

But understanding their limitations was likely a dealbreaker.

The Searers were in Japan on a mission trip that Valentine’s Day when they received an email that the Church of the Brethren had accepted their offer.

While the news was fantastic, it also created another hurdle with the closing costs. Incredibly, one of Searer’s friends had heard about the proposed sale and fronted $7,225 to cover the closing cost expenses. The sale was finalized in April.

“So they gave us the 9,000-square-foot building for free, we assumed zero debt and put nothing down and we’re into it,” Searer said.

Searer could barely believe the circumstances, but there was more to come. He was in the ministry building when God spoke to him yet again, revealing construction plans for the facility, which was built in 1897 and had an addition in 1965.

“I turned around and he started to speak to me,” Searer said. “It was like hearing an inner voice. He said, ‘Take out this wall. Knock down that wall. He was showing me all of this construction that he wanted done.'”

Again, he lacked the funds for such renovations but that wasn’t a problem for long. He reached out to a friend who worked in construction and shortly thereafter heard from the owner who promised a skilled crew to help with the work.

Searer had initially figured on $4,000 for the work, but he soon realized that wouldn’t be enough for materials for a skilled construction crew, so he decided to nearly double the amount.

As far as the $7,500 price tag, he was able to raise $4,000 fairly quickly then had people handing him envelopes filled with thousands of dollars in cash after posting on social media.

“I was so blown away; I had money coming from unexpected places,” Searer added.

The final piece of the puzzle came when Searer went to Lowe’s in Lewistown to purchase some materials. Searer eventually met store manager Sarah Winners, who informed him he had been selected as the recipient for Lowe’s Hometown Heroes Project.

Searer can pick out the supplies he needs and Lowe’s will be stopping in on Tuesday to install it. The work will mainly be in a new bathroom, which the ministry building desperately needs.

Work will also need to be completed in the church basement, which will eventually house 30 missionary students as well as the Kingdom Revival School.

“Our heart is to see the church unified,” Searer said. “We want denominations to work together, regardless of their beliefs. We want to see the denominational walls come down.”

While the walls of the new ministry building rise up.