Several hundred retailers jammed the aisles around the supplier's 14 booth spaces and the adjoining area as they waited for in-house sales manager Jill McInturff to draw the winning entry form for the vehicle, retail value around $27,000.

Marilyn Schreier "almost fainted" when she learned that she and her husband, Jack, had won the prize. Owners of The Shepherd Shoppe in Greenville, S.C., the pair started in Christian retail in 1979 and have attended more than 20 CBA conventions.

"I just can't believe it," she said. "God is so good…it's like you are having all these battles every day staying in business and God just does something like this. God can be so good when we don't deserve it."

She called her daughter Kelley Rousey, a manager at the 6,500-square-foot store, to share the news, but her daughter did not believe her until Schreier handed the phone to STL sales manager David Sheets for confirmation.

More than 500 retailers had qualified for the drawing by participating in STL's "road to success" promotion that involved listening to five short presentations about the distributor's history and services.

Qualifying retailers also got to take part in another prize-giving that included a GPS system, gas cards, fuzzy rearview mirror dice, an MP3 player, extra discounts and free freight.

"We wanted to generate traffic in our booth, and we wanted to have something that was a real benefit back to the retailers," Sheets said of the promotion, adding that a hybrid vehicle was chosen "to do something that is ecologically responsible."

Jack Schreier said that the new car would make it possible for him to sell their 2002 Avalon and "help pay the bills at the store," where “like most stores, we are hanging in there.”

The STL promotion was partly sponsored by Gina D's Kids Club, Thomas Nelson, Word Distribution, Christian World, WaterBrook Multnomah, Tyndale House Publishers and VMI Publishers.

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