The Dinner Plans

“Whenever you give to someone who is helpless or needy, you are serving Jesus and, in turn the Father. In addition, I can tell you from personal experience that serving those who can’t repay you brings the deepest satisfaction.

“Several years ago, Vonette and I were about to celebrate our wedding anniversary. I was trying to think of a special, elegant place to take her that would express how important she is to me. I wanted it to be a meaningful evening.

“But . . . after discussing the plans with Vonette, we agreed that instead of going to an elegant hotel . . . we would serve meals to the homeless. We knew a friend who ran a kitchen for the homeless, so he arranged for us to go.

“Soon after we arrived, we were given our assigned places in the serving line, and people began walking by cafeteria -style. Right away I noticed that these people carried an air of defeat. No on e looked me in the eye. I found myself identifying with them. I thought, But for the grace of God, what happened to them could happen to me, and I began to weep.

“I served for an entire hour with tears streaming down my cheeks. I thought about the compassion Jesus had for people as He ministered to them. I recalled . . . Matthew9:36: ‘[Jesus] felt great pity for the crowds that came, because their problems were so great and they didn’t know where to go for help.’ The experience . . . gave me a deeper compassion for people who are less fortunate than I am. “

–[Excerpt from Discover the Real Jesus by Bill Bright, pp. 107 -108]

The Exact Amount

Recently, our friends, Tom and Betsy, wrote us how God directed them to donate toward our ministry. We wanted to share what they wrote because God encouraged us very much through this letter.

“Tom and I wanted to share the following with you because we felt it would be a wonderful testimony to how God provides and works through his people.

“We have been praying about your situation for quite some time. You can imagine the requests we get for assistance each day . . . Each time Tom and I receive a request we pray about it separately and together, then after a period of time we come together and discuss what God has revealed to us. . . most of the time if God wants us to give he will give us both the same amount.

“. . . for the last month and a half our schedules have been extremely busy and neither one of us had been spending the quality time in prayer that we should have been. . . I was mowing the yard and talking to God and the two of you were on my mind. I told God that if he would provide extra funds, then I would take that as He wanted this for you. That day, . . when I greeted Tom I asked him to retrieve the mail and when he returned he said, ‘look at this.’ It was a check from the IRS for $329.47!

“I looked at Tom and told him it had to be fake and . . . I shared my conversation with God from the morning mowing.
Tom said, ‘Well now we have our answer.’

“Tom called [the IRS] on Tuesday and found out that the check was from 2005 from an over payment of $300.00 . . . and that the $29.47 was the interest.

“May God continue to bless us all in unexpected ways and may we always be the stewards that he created us to be.”

We could not have said it better!

The Walkie-Talkies

I kept looking toward the roller coasters, nervously tapping my foot. I had waited more than a half an hour, instead of enjoying the theme park. I needed to meet up with the rest of the family, but time crawled as I fidgeted on the bench. It was only natural that I asked for walkie-talkies that next Christmas.

For several years after that, the walkie-talkies were a great help on a lot of our vacation trips. Now in 2007, we use our cell phones when we need to connect, but actually our kids really don’t want us to split up anymore. They want us to spend the day together when we go to a park.

The walkie-talkies waited silently in a drawer for two years until last month when I came across them and knew it was time to find a new home for them. They were still in good condition and worth a little bit. However, I don’t do yard sales anymore, so I did not even think about selling them. Instead, I started thinking about who might use some walkie-talkies.

I tried our church because our campus is getting more spread out, but they already have some. I was getting a little tired of the time and effort of looking for new owners when I thought of friends of ours who were expecting their fifth child. This little princess is due soon and will find herself in a homeschool family with four active brothers, ages four to fifteen.

I sent an e-mail off to Jo. She was thrilled and so was I. Now she can stay inside when she needs to rest or watch little ones and know she can easily reach her active boys. The boys will have a lot of fun with the walkie-talkies, too.

Of course, I could have just donated these to a charity. It would have been easier, but it is a lot more fun and rewarding to find a need and help to meet it.

So That None Are Needy

As I looked through our pantry, I knew we had too much. I boxed up some extra food and took it to church. After Sunday School, I offered it to Mark and Barb.

“Thank you!” Barb exclaimed. “We can really use this!”

I already knew Mark was working extra hours because their housing costs skyrocketed this past year. They were counting pennies to meet their expenses and the gift of food was a blessing to them.

God encourages us to excel in giving and to do it out of love (See 2 Corinthians 8: 7 – 15) We also see in verses 12 to 15 that at times my surplus makes up for the lack my fellow Christians are suffering. At other times the roles are reversed. God desires to meet needs through the Body so that none are needy.

The Eternal Value of Seven Dollars

The early morning air was still cool, just right for a walk… before the scorching Florida sun would discourage me from venturing out later. No one else was out when I spotted three folded green bills lying near the sidewalk.

Picking up a soggy seven dollars, I wondered if someone had lost them the night before. I noticed I was exactly halfway between two houses. Did one of these people lose the money or was it someone last night or that morning out for a jog or a walk? It was too early to knock on their doors, so I wrote a letter to both houses asking if they were missing any money.

Five days later, I went to our bank’s ATM. I was thinking about the seven dollars and decided God must mean for me to give it to a Faith Promise at church. Right at that moment, I found five dollars lying on the ground there, too! The tellers inside the bank told me to keep the money. I thought this must be additional money for our Faith Promise, not knowing God was about to show me the eternal value of this money I was finding.

Just ten minutes later, I just stepped in the house when the phone rang from the person missing the seven dollars. I drove straight over to her house. Rosanna was waiting for me outside. Her Roman nose and straight black hair said “Peruvian” long before she told me were she was from originally. She was amazed that I would make a point of getting the money back to her, which of course, allowed me to share about the Lord. We talked further and she told me about her problems with her adult children.

I learned she was moving in three days, so it became obvious to me I needed to share the Gospel with her right then. She invited me into her house where I went through “Would You Like to Know God Personally.” As I started to explain about sin and our separation from God, Rosanna began crying quietly. She was very eager to have Christ in her heart, so she prayed silently to herself to ask Him in.

The next day, I checked around with friends and then gave Rosanna’s phone number to a woman who lives near Rosanna’s new apartment. Susanna sounded like a “perfect match” so I prayed that Rosanna would grow in her new faith and would be willing to go to church with Susanna.

I am so glad I did not view the seven dollars as a windfall or even as something to give to the church. I always make an effort to return lost money to its owner. Of course, it was an even greater thrill to see God use this little event to make an eternal difference and bring a lost soul to Himself.

Circumstances vs. Scriptures

“I stopped tithing and then I learned that I needed an expensive prescription,” Janis explained. “The amount I would have given was exactly enough to cover the prescription!”

“Wow!” I thought, as red flags popped up in my mind. “God promises to supply our needs. (Philippians 4:19) God also encourages us to give, not to stop giving! (Malachi 3: 6 – 11)”

Janis was excited at the “coincidence” that seemed to confirm her decision.

I was concerned that her circumstances did not line up with Scripture and that she was deceived.

I had an opportunity later to write Janis:

“I believe you should be giving financially as an expression of your praise and trust in God in the midst of need. This is a Biblical concept and also fits your role as an encourager who gives praise to God in the midst of need. You were amazed that you had the money for your expensive prescription. I can imagine a different scenario where you had continued to give and God supplied what you needed for the prescription or that you would have not needed the prescription at all. I cannot guess here what He would have done. I just know that God supplies our needs.”

If you find yourself in a similar situation, take a good hard look at your circumstances, study the Scriptures and ask for God’s wisdom. It’s especially important to gather advice from those who know the Word or have studied Biblical financial concepts. A good online resource is Crown Financial Ministries.

A Tale of Two Boxes

It was a big box, but it was half full of beans. Canned beans. Baked beans. Bags of beans. The trouble was, I hardly ever use beans when I cook.

Because we are missionaries, we were given a box of food. The gift was well-meant, but we would barely use it.

At another time, I received another unexpected gift. Some ladies I did not know, but were from a church that invests in us, got together and had a shower for me. It wasn’t a bridal shower or a baby shower, but just a “love on our missionary” shower. After their party in my honor, they mailed all their gifts to me.

The first box gave a strong impression of cast-offs. The second box was thoughtful and intentional; with a pretty tee shirt and lotions and stationery.

Both boxes changed my way of giving to others. For food banks, I make sure I donate a variety of foods of what I like to eat. For other donations, I make sure my gifts are new or like new.

What Price For Salvation?

Rhonda gave me several bags of groceries. I knew a lot of the produce would spoil, so I offered most of the groceries to my neighbor across the street.

“I’ll make soup!” Cathy beamed as she examined the large bag. “My boys will love snacking on the carrots, too.”

A few weeks later, as I was spring cleaning, I brought her a box overflowing with toys that my boys had enjoyed when they were younger. Cathy’s boys, on tiptoe, tried to peer into the box as I handed it over to her.

Then in February, a friend and I sat around Cathy’s dining room table to take a worldview survey with her. Suddenly tears filled Cathy’s eyes.

“Last night was very hard,” she explained.

We listened and we prayed and we hugged her. Then, we shared how she could know God personally. Cathy prayed to receive Christ with us! Her tear-stained face was radiant when we left her.

The groceries would have spoiled in my fridge. The toys might have put a few dollars in my wallet in a yard sale or rusted in the garage. How much better to use what Jesus gives to me as a tool to unlock a heart for God!

Freedom

I felt lighter… and not just because I had just tossed a boxful of unread magazines into the dumpster!

For a long time I felt obligated that I must read those magazines. I finally realized it was not going to happen and decided to just toss them out! I definitely had a sense of freedom now that I did not have to find the time in my life or the space in my home for those magazines.

Since then, I have donated old educational magazines to schools, which were very glad to get them. (Nursing homes or other places may be interested in your stack of magazines, too). It was a little more trouble than the walk to the alley, but definitely rewarding to hear the librarians’ expressions of gratitude for our old National Geographics and for our kids’ old Ranger Rick magazines.

One Gift, Many Blessings

I paused on my way to the mailbox to chat with my neighbor, Cathy. She, and three family members, were clearing out their garage.

“Would you be interested in a table?” she asked, pointing to a squat, red-and-white plastic table.

“I know a few families with young kids,” I suggested as I examined a minor crack in the Legos table top. “My boys loved Legos when they were little. You wouldn’t throw this out would you?”

“Oh yes, I would,” Cathy smiled.

I hesitated. I had a very busy three weeks ahead of me.

“Well, help me bring it over to my house. I’ll see what I can do,” I offered.

I cleaned up the table and sent two e-mails.

One friend, Helen, wrote, “I’ll ask the Wagners if they would like the table.” Their son, Matthew, a young boy with ADHD, recently showed an interest in Legos.

We don’t live near these families, but we “happened” to be in their area about 24 hours later. I dropped the table off and another friend, Martha, took it to the family’s house. As it turns out, the next day was Matthew’s birthday. Another family knew about the table and bought a Lego set to take to the party.

What may have looked like a hassle turned into a blessing! Instead of one family enjoying a toy and then throwing it out, more than six people were blessed! God promises we reap more than we sow!

Cathy is blessed for giving the table to another family. Helen, Martha, and I are blessed for getting the table over to the new family. Little Gabe and his family are blessed for buying a Lego set for Matthew to use on his new table. Matthew and his family are obviously blessed with the table and with Matthew’s new interest in Legos.