In the ghetto of one...
Illustration
In the ghetto of one of our most economically depressed cities, an anonymous donor recently gave a gift of one million dollars, so a church could build a child care and health center next to its homeless shelter. There children are cared for while parents seek housing and jobs, the elderly come for free health care and a warm meal, and the love of Jesus Christ spreads out through the city from that gift given anonymously.
In some ways, a gift like this is against all the usual wisdom of stewardship campaigns. Every fundraising plan in the world offers recognition through plaques or in newsletters for those who give ten dollars, or twenty-five or a hundred. What could this donor have been thinking? Why didn't he want the honor of having the center named after him? Perhaps he understood about storing up "treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes." Where is our heart when we give? Is it in the recognition we receive, or in the good done by the gift?
--Curley
In some ways, a gift like this is against all the usual wisdom of stewardship campaigns. Every fundraising plan in the world offers recognition through plaques or in newsletters for those who give ten dollars, or twenty-five or a hundred. What could this donor have been thinking? Why didn't he want the honor of having the center named after him? Perhaps he understood about storing up "treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes." Where is our heart when we give? Is it in the recognition we receive, or in the good done by the gift?
--Curley
