Warning: This is going to be a very long post. These are some of the stories from Project Generosity... we closed out our Mad Money Series with a "reverse offering" and gave away over $1000 and asked people to be generous and bless someone with the money they were given. Here are the stories. Yep... I had to use tissue. I'm so blessed to pastor a church where you guys are so generous. The project isn't meant to be over just because you "spent" the money. Now it's time to look for ways to be generous every day!
Name: Nathan. Amount: $20. Your story: I recently had an encounter with a man named scott who had this awesome testimony, and ultimately started this nonprofit organization that builds wells in Africa, India, and Indonesia. I am sure that many of you have heard of or maybe even taking part in a similar mission, like Journey Church's coffee thing. I know that my $20 is going straight to Africa. Also that the amount I gave will provide one person in Africa with clean water for 20 years. Wow. They also do not only go into these places and dig a well and leave, but they teach locals in the area how to do it. Most recently, through the giving of several donors and the blessing of a tv broadcaster, a commercial aired for the charity during American Idol a few weeks ago.
name: zaneta
amount: 20.00
your story: Well I was given 20 and my son Quentin was given 10 so we just combined ours and gave it to my second cousin and her family. They just lost everything due to their house burning down. She was very thankful.
name: Christel
amount: $20
your story: A couple in my neighborhood have been having a rough time. The husband just lost his job, and the wife is not working due to a recent surgery. I found out about the couple through my realty company. When I asked them to give the money anonymously as a gift. The realtors were extremely touched by the act and could not believe that someone would just give money away. Through this one innocent act, several lives were affected, including my own.
name: Jeremy and Rachel, Jay and Bethany
amount: $15
your story: There is a student in my (Rachel's) 4th grade class who is often neglected and could always use a little more love. She is without a snack almost everyday, unless she has been with her foster parents. She complains of being hungry and that her stomach hurts almost everyday when she does not have a snack. Our group put our money together to buy her snacks for the rest of the school year. Today, she did not have a snack, so I told her that there are plenty of snacks just for her and that she has one waiting for her each day until the end of the year. She smiled and of course wanted to know who they came from. I told her that it was an anonymous person who wanted to give her a gift. She gave me a hug and said thank you.
name: Helene, Sherry, Rachel
amount: $50 combined
your story: Sherry, Rachel and I put our money together and bought a Wal-Mart gift card and a candle for Ms. Finley for Mother's Day. We picked her because she lost her 12 year old daughter(Jasmine) this past fall and we thought it would be a tough Mother's Day for her this year.We wanted to let her know that we were thinking about her and that people at Journey Church cared about her and her family. Our hope was that she would be encouraged on what probably will be a tough Mother's Day. Thank you Journey Church!
name: The Rogers Family
amount: 50+10+10+10+10
your story: Our family combined and used the money that we were given to help two little boys that are apart of a broken family. We have a friend who owns a daycare who told us about these little boys' lives. Not too long ago the mother tried to commit suicide and had the boys in the bath tub ready to drown them, when the father came home. The mother is now in jail and the father is taking care of these children. They do not have much of anything. Our family used this money to help buy clothes and health care items for these boys.
name: Marco & Brandi
amount: 20.00
your story: We combined our money and did something special for all the mothers at my job. We found out what the ladies favorite treats were and made 'Mother's Day Take-Out Boxes' which included ALL of their favorite treats. Everyone loved it and were really excited to receive a gift with their favorite yummies!
name: Zach Benson
amount: $20
your story: Well, I'm out here in Pasadena California. Don't be too jealous, it's been overcast the ENTIRE trip, no sun for me! Anyway, my friend that i am visiting out here is involved in a minsitry that serves the homless of LA, it's called 'PATH' i will be giving my money to this organization. Here's their website to check out more. http://www.epath.org
name: Bobby
amount: 20.00
your story: There is a girl I work with who is my age and has 3 kids. I really knew she could use the money, so I gave it to her.
name: Mandy Seales
amount: $100
your story: As soon as I looked in my envelope & discovered I had $100, I knew that I could use it to really help someone. So, I prayed about it & I kept coming back to a couple that we go to church with @ The People's Church @ Oak Mountain. I kept questioning it - am I really hearing God's voice on this? So, I did nothing for a few days, then I decided to share it with my women's Bible study group to get their input. When I told them who I was thinking about, Theresa (our pastor's wife) immediately spoke up. She said that Sunday (which is the same day I received my money) someone came up to her at church & gave her $100. They told her that God had laid it on their heart to give her the money & they didn't know why, but they wanted to be obedient to God's calling. So, she took the money & prayed about it & God led her to give her money to the same couple I was thinking about. So, to sum it up, both of us received the same amount of money on the same day & felt like God was leading us to give it to the same couple.
Name: Andrew & Emily
Amount: $10 + $10
your story: Emily and I each received $10 in our envelopes. We decided to each double our amount to $20 each. We went to Winn Dixie and each bought a $20 gift card. We then walked around the store and randomly gave them to families we saw in the store. We told them, "Our church gave us some money and told us to bless someone with it, so we thought we'd help you out with your grocery budget this week." One family was a mother with baby and a bunch of formula in her cart. Formula can get expensive, so she was VERY thankful and gave Emily a big hug. We had a lot of fun and are thinking about making this a regular habit.
Posted by: Andrew | May 13, 2008 at 09:06 AM