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| "Why Are You Taking That
Blessing Away From Us?" “For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me; I was in prison, and ye came unto me” (Matthew 25:35-36). Some months ago I shared the results of giving money away in Sunday School. To focus the students on the needs of others, I gave each one of my high school girls and team teachers a $10 bill to be used wherever they wished, to fill whatever need they could find to make someone’s life better. The results were astounding. We found out that in many instances our giving created a ripple effect and that others were all too willing to join in giving. As reported in the last feature: · Three of the girls pooled their money to buy shoes for a second grade boy whose only pair of shoes were two sizes too small. Lauren’s (all names have been changed) mom pitched in some more money so they could also buy socks. · Kara and Holly collected money for their retired Civics teacher who had been diagnosed with a brain tumor and found many other students who wanted to contribute. · Beth and Lauren bought religious books for an abused children’s center, with each adding more money to the original $10; an adult bought even more books. Yet that was just the start of something much greater. In a self-absorbed society, it is imperative that we guide our young people toward a life of service, leading the way for them to give of themselves, their talents, and their money. Aside from the fact that it is biblical, statistics (see below) show a definite correlation between volunteer work and lower involvement of teens with destructive behaviors, such as drug abuse. Step One: TeachingHow do we get our youth involved in service giving? First of all, we teach them what the Word says, remind them often that all we have belongs to God, that “The earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein” (Psalm 24:1); that includes our failures, successes, talents, personalities, money, material objects, and time. As faithful stewards, we should carefully use the blessings that He has given us to glorify Him. We must teach that
“…It is more blessed to give than to
receive” (Acts God promises to
repay our giving with abundance because our giving can then become an endless
circle of blessing: God gives, we receive; we give, others receive; God
multiplies our gift so that we can continue to give. We are promised also that
by our giving, we ourselves will be refreshed (Proverbs Step Two: Be an ExampleWe can lecture endlessly about the blessings of giving, but more powerful than our words are our actions. I am involved in church work now because I was blessed to grow up with parents who gave more than they could afford and who were always involved in church work. One of my fondest and earliest memories is of working for a church fundraiser. Once a week our church made donuts, so the ladies (and their children) would rise early to begin mixing, rolling, and cutting the dough. (My mom may not have the same fond memories that I have of this endeavor!) Later there were snow cones for Sheaves For Christ (SFC), peanut brittle, barbecues, jambalaya dinners, garage sales, craft fairs, Sunday School teaching, and Bible Quiz coaching. When you show youth that being involved brings benefits beyond the projects end result there comes a sense of purpose, unity, bonding, sharing, and fun. Step Three: Involve ThemIn their often egocentric world, many youth are not even aware of the needs around them, yet non-Christians often fill that gap: · Teens volunteer an impressive 2.4 billion hours per year. (Independent Sector/Gallup 1996) · Those young people who volunteer just one hour a week are 50 percent less likely to be abusers of drugs, cigarettes, alcohol, or to engage in destructive behavior. (Search Institute, 1995) · Those young people who volunteer are more likely to perform well in school, to graduate, to vote, and to be philanthropic. (UCLA/Higher Education Research Institute, 1991) · Youth volunteering is up 12 percent over the last ten years. (UCLA/Higher Education Research Institute Annual Freshmen Survey, 1999)
· The majority, 74 percent, of the young people in (Source: the Youth Service America website) Our Apostolic youth should be a part of this volunteering effort, and more of them will become involved if we just lead the way. Step Four: Class InvolvementWomen’s
As a direct result of the Giving Project, our class is now sponsoring a service organization each quarter. I wanted the girls not only to be aware of individual needs, but also to help those agencies who are responding to various needs in the community. Our first drive
was directed toward the Women’s As her part in the project, Hannah canvassed her neighborhood and friends, asking for donations. She was given a cash gift and lots of wonderful baby items in like-new condition (stroller, mobile, play gym, and more). We also bought two park benches and plan to have a plaque engraved with our church name on each bench, hoping that some young woman will be directed to our church and to God. Traci told us that she felt impressed to donate her entire paycheck on the cost of the benches. The touching part of this is that Traci’s mom is a single parent and had just found a job after being unemployed for a few months. Who is teaching whom about sacrificial giving? Tupelo
Children’s Mansion For several years our class has sponsored two young ladies from Tupelo Children’s Mansion. Our class would always buy, wrap, and send gifts at Christmas, and the girls always participated eagerly and generously to this effort. However, for the past couple of years I have had the monthly contribution information sent to my house, and I would pay the monthly contribution. Not long ago one of my students asked if we were still sponsoring the TCM girls. When I told her yes, but that I was just paying the monthly support and didn’t mind because I was being blessed by it, her comment caused me to think. “So you just want to take that blessing away from us?” she responded. I learned
something from her answer and recently asked for a volunteer to become our
“TCM Secretary.” Immediately after class, Ashley came to me, requesting the
position. I have no doubt that Ashley is doing a much better job than I, and
will long remember the joy of being involved in service giving. She plans to
send pictures of our students, along with individual notes from our students to
the TCM girls, coordinate the collection of Some giving requires little but our time, because collecting the labels costs no money, but in return Tupelo Children’s Mansion will receive much needed educational equipment for those labels. We hope to make this a church-wide effort. School
Supplies: Assess the Need The tax assessor for our parish led a drive to provide school supplies for the needy. Our Sunday School class took up an offering and donated enough money to buy two large bags of school supplies. Having learned my lesson about taking away a blessing, I gave the money to one of the students to shop. She and her younger sister did a tremendous job of getting the most for the money on these school supplies. Missionaries Realizing that we seldom spent time talking about missions, I pondered the best way to present this need to the class. Finally I decided that a “Missions Secretary” for the class would be the most effective way to get the class involved. However, I didn’t want to just appoint someone to this position, so I asked for a volunteer to contact me after class if she felt a burden for missions. Before church that evening, Anne called to volunteer. Now, twice a month, she presents a new missionary family to the class, explaining the country and the missionary family with a handout of information so the others will remember to pray for this family. She plans to email the families, include messages from the other students, and send tapes of some of our church services. This is a new project, and I am excited to see where this will lead. Step Five: Encourage OthersAt the suggestion of our class teachers, our PrimeTimers Group (ages 33-54) plans to ask those who attend the social dinners/activities to bring an item to give to charity (such as canned food for the Food Bank) as their ticket for admittance. The Christian Difference I have found that teens will get involved in giving, both for individual needs and in organized drives, if we only will show them how─not just with lessons, examples, and scriptures, but with taking the time to actively involve them in real-life service projects. There are so many hurting people and opportunities, such as abused women and children, nursing home patients, at risk teens, illiterate adults, homeless, hospital patients, the elderly, the handicapped, and the lonely. We can make a difference in our world by showing the love of Christ through our giving. The sacrificial giving of the girls has made me often wonder who the teacher really is in these projects. Their generosity and loving examples have taught me much. Even though I am firmly convinced that my 25 Sunday School girls are the best in the world, I know they are not unique and that other teens you influence will also be eager to give if you guide them into becoming aware of the needs of others.
ninetyandnine.com © 2002, Shirley McDonald --------- Shirley McDonald has not given out any more money in Sunday School, and the amazing thing is that her Sunday School class is still growing. |
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