A Cheerful Giver

We have a youth boy at Refuge who has been meeting with us for the past 3 years now.  A few weeks ago, his mother told us that she wanted to start tithing to Vision Onward.   She said that Refuge is what her son considers to be his church and so this is who she wants her tithe money to go to.  Mind you, this is a single mother with very limited income.  She said she had been saving for awhile and then she handed Ken a huge wad of money (see picture above).  This single mother gave us $485.  WOW!  This was so incredibly humbling for all of us.  Ken even tried to decline it knowing that she has limited income, however she insisted and went on to say that she will be giving a monthly tithe from now on.  God had placed this in her heart and she was giving joyfully and generously with tears of thankfulness in her eyes for how much has been done for her son.

This type of giving has been something we have seen over and over again since we began our ministry working with poverty level families.  Those who have so very little are so very generous with what little they do have. 

"Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.  Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.  And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.   As it is written:
   "He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor;
      his righteousness endures forever." 2 Corinthians 9:6-9

"I know, my God, that you test the heart and are pleased with integrity. All these things have I given willingly and with honest intent. And now I have seen with joy how willingly your people who are here have given to you.  O LORD, God of our fathers Abraham, Isaac and Israel, keep this desire in the hearts of your people forever, and keep their hearts loyal to you." 1 Chronicles 29: 17-19

A Note From Togo

Here is a note from Jeff while he was in Togo, Africa last week:

 Tuesday, April 20, 2010 at 5:50am

I must say that I will never be able to put into words the overwhelming emotion from things I have seen, but I'm going to try. Some things will be descriptive, not out of disrespect, but to paint the real picture. I knew coming to Africa would present challenges for me, but since I had been here before I thought I knew what to expect. The first hard thing was the 5 hr time difference...last night was the first time that I went to bed here on time and slept through the night for the most part. The second piece that has been hard is the heat. It has been around 104 with humidity each day and there is not an AC in sight. I have literally dripped sweat from the moment I stepped off the plane. It's hard to sleep when sweat is rolling off of you...it's like you are in a full time sauna. 

About Togo.....the capital is Lome and it is very populated; one of the highest populated per sq mile in all of Africa. The goverment does not manadate or help facilate trash pick up so you can guess where every bit of it goes. At night you will see thousands of little fires along the road of burning trash, but since it's a seaside city, the wind is strong and it blows the half burnt trash all over the place. Every road except the main road is made of sand and dirt. Those roads are in really rough conidtion and are covered in trash. I started my first day on a walk through the city of Baguida and right off the bat, kids everywhere are playing in just their underwear and are covered in sand. The houses of some are made of concrete, but most are made of tree branches. None of the houses have running water; they all have water wells. There is also very little electricity.  They could have both, but it is very expensive for them. 

Literally every where you turn in every city they are trying to sell you bread and fruit and vegatables. They also are trying to sell water and the difference between the waters is unreal. Some of the people selling water  looks like tea. 

On Sunday, we went to an amazing church service. They sang and danced to the Lord for an hour and it was a treat for me to see. Then Kossi delivered the message and it was awesome as well. 

On Monday, we went to visit the land that we are looking at for an orphange and church and medical clinic. The land itself was beautiful and it is has at least 15 rural villages within 2 miles. We visited some of them and that is when it got really hard for me. Seeing the pot bellied kids, who were butt naked with flies all around them and the women looking worn and only having clothes on from waist down.  Seeing their houses made of mud and grass and seeing how far they have to travel to get water was tough to handle. When we got to where their water source was,  it was a pond with moss or something green covering the entire top with insects and bugs all over the top and animals drinking from it. All of my emotions were overfilled and tapped and I think I was in shock for a bit. 

So today we are working on the land deal and I must say the folks here have been so nice and the hospitality has been awesome.  For the most part, the food has been really good as well. All the fresh fruit has been awesome, but what I have seen what some have to live through in and out of the city has changed me for life. I feel ashamed complaining about heat when I see what they live through everyday. Just to LIVE is tougher work than what most of us do for our jobs just to have the things we WANT.

(***I will be posting more about Jeff's trip to Africa soon with pictures)

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