Some people dream big—and they always seem to find ways to make the impossible happen. Chad Gust is one of those people. A former Navy SEAL and homebuilder in eastern Tennessee, Gust has sought to serve both his country and his God to the highest of his ability.
This particular combination of passion and skill led Gust to host a very unique kind of fundraising project—building a house as inexpensively as possible, selling it for as much as possible, and donating the difference. The proceeds supported four ministries, and Love Justice is honored to be one of them.
This May, as we seek to fund as many interceptions as we can to protect people from human trafficking, Gust’s unique fundraisers are an encouragement to dream big. Who knows how many people you could protect from trafficking using your own set of skills and passion?
Before you write this story off because you’re not a homebuilder or you don’t have time for something that big—it didn’t start with a house. It started with a broken heart and a willingness to do something about it.
Beginnings
Gust first heard about Love Justice from his office assistant and good friend, Jan Harmon, who saw an ad back in 2010 that read, “No girl should be for sale.” Heartbroken by the realization that people still live in slavery today, Harmon brought the matter to Gust, and they responded by hosting a Christmas sale in their office, raising about $2,000. That first Christmas sale was the start of something that would continue to grow to unimaginable proportions, though they didn’t know it at the time.
Two years after the Christmas sale, they hosted a benefit concert which raised $8,000. That same year, Harmon organized a bike-a-thon supporting a Love Justice family home serving girls with disabilities. The bike-a-thon raised another $20,000 for the girls’ home.
These events were an impressive start already, but Gust dreamed of doing more. From 2012 to 2018, they hosted an annual yard sale (pictured below) to raise money for both Love Justice and an orphanage in Honduras.
People donated items all year, which they stored on Gust’s construction business property. When it came time for the yard sale, the event spanned multiple days, and supporters even traveled in from other states to attend.
“It was the craziest thing ever,” said Gust. “When I see people in action as God’s Church—that’s what we’re supposed to do, and it encourages everybody. Everybody can’t do it [go on a mission trip] but they have a way to get involved, and so that’s what we were doing—giving people a way to get involved.”
Although the yard sale raised about $30,000 a year, they eventually decided it was too much work for too little return. Gust and his fellow mission-hearted friends began brainstorming other possible fundraisers that could have even more impact.
Building something bigger
In 2019, they held a “Dine and Discover” Missions Banquet, which raised $68,000 for Love Justice, the Honduras orphanage, and a local foster care organization.
Although in-person events paused during COVID-19, they continued fundraising remotely.
Then in 2022, Gust founded an official nonprofit for their fundraising efforts, called “Friends of Missions.” The Friends of Missions Banquet became an annual fundraiser to support four organizations (the three mentioned above plus a fourth local ministry providing addiction recovery services). In 2022, they raised $120,000, and the following year, $140,000! (Pictured: a table from the most recent banquet)
Still dreaming bigger, Gust decided to put his construction skills to work in his latest fundraiser just last year—to build a house and sell it.
“God will do what He’s gonna do,” Gust said.
Sure enough, the community came together to help, and they built a house for around $100,000, then sold it for about $450,000, turning a $350,000 profit to then funnel into those four organizations.
“I’m just glad to be a part of it, that God uses—if He can use a donkey [Num. 22], He can use me. And so I have hope,” Gust said, chuckling. “My favorite scripture is John 15:5 - ‘I am the vine, you are the branches, and anybody who abides in me and I in him will bear much fruit, apart from me you can do nothing.’ And I’m a doer, so that hit me hard, because I’m like, I can do it, right? But it says anything I do is worth nothing—filthy rags. But with Him, it matters.”
Fruit of the work
Since 2016, through all these various fundraisers, Gust, Harmon, and Friends of Missions have pulled together to donate a little over $300,000 to Love Justice. What began as a $2,000 fundraiser grew and changed over time—through the compassion and persistence of brokenhearted people—into something 150 times greater.
At our current cost per intercept, that translates to about 2,272 lives transformed—children who were able to grow up in a safe and loving home, families reunited, and people protected from dangerous trafficking situations. Gust’s humility and willingness in the hands of God has become a powerful force for good.
“That’s part of the body of Christ,” he said. “We’re all doing our part, and I’m so thankful that I get to be a part of this work.” (Pictured: Chad and his wife, LaShaun)
We’re incredibly grateful to partner with Gust and Friends of Missions and to have such passionate people fueling our work!
What can you do?
You don’t have to build a house to make a difference. What skills, ideas, or connections do you have to raise even a small amount? Put that in the hands of God, and let Him do impossible things, more than you could ever ask or imagine! (Eph. 3:20)
It only costs us $132 to protect one person from being trafficked. Since one person is currently trafficked every minute, we are trying to see how many minutes we can cover freedom for—one minute at a time. This month, a generous matching gift up to $500,000 allows your gift to go twice as far.
If you have had your heart broken for the people in slavery in our world today, consider starting your own fundraiser. We’ve made it super easy! Check out our toolkit featuring everything you need to make fundraising as easy as possible.
Join us this month in this beautiful fight for freedom, for the dignity of every human being.
*All data and statistics current at the date and time of publishing. Names and specific locations excluded for privacy and security purposes. Images are representative. AI used to edit some images.
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