When an Atlantic City pastor, Kenneth Applewhite, was searching for a miracle so he could relocate his small church to a safer home, God led him straight into the hands of 82 year-old James Horowitz.
Horowitz was planning to sell the vacant parcel of land in Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey, valued at $75, 000 to $125, 000, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported Thursday.
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Applewhite called Horowitz in answer to an ad in the Atlantic City Press that said to “name your price” for the plot.
When they mat the pastor told Horowitz that he was looking to relocate his African-American church after a young man was killed in front of the church in the crime-ridden neighborhood, the 15th murder in recent years on the block on which the church is located.
“It was a feel-good type of thing. I wanted to do it, and I did it, ” James Horowitz, 82, said of his decision to donate the vacant land on the Black Horse Pike in Egg Harbor Township, N.J., so the congregation could build a new church. “I think people ought to do that more often.”
Horowitz said Applewhite made a compelling case on behalf of the church, so he decided to give away the land.
Applewhite said the gift from a complete stranger was tantamount to a miracle for his congregation.
Horowitz, who operated a publishing and pool business and dabbled in real estate, had only one request in exchange for the land: an invitation for a first-row seat at the first service in the new church.
