This week's story is from Gary Thies, Mission Counselor for LCMS Foundation Ministries Support in Iowa and Nebraska. Gary loves to tell stories from God's mission. He also loves to tell what he calls "stories of God reaching down and touching the lives of individual donors." He says, "God is still calling people and performing great miracles by sending the Holy Spirit into their hearts."
God accomplishes His work on earth through all kinds of people...all sizes and shapes, all nationalities and backgrounds, all cultures and languages. He also accepts and puts to work all kinds and sizes of gifts to help accomplish His mission and ministry.
I remember sitting at a kitchen table, next to an elderly gentleman with gray hair. He looked at his wife and said, "Mom, we have worked all our lives, pinched and saved, but we haven’t really accomplished anything that is this important." Then he looked at me and with tears in his eyes said, "Mom and I will give you a check for $440,000 to take care of this special mission project!"
That was a giant gift and God put it to work in the right way, but it wasn’t the largest gift I’ve ever received. The largest gift I ever received came from a little church in central Iowa. After I finished speaking, a young man in work clothes and work shoes came over and said, "Gary, I have a responsibility to set an example for my family. When I put my children to bed at night I would like to have them pray for a specific missionary family. We need to support such a family. Could you give us the name of a family that we could pray for and support?"
I told him that I certainly did have a family that we need to pray for and I pulled out a picture and an adoption agreement. As I was doing this, he called his family over. I watched his wife and their seven children heading over. The children ranged in age from about three to14 years old. I noticed how the children were dressed and I noticed their shoes. Then I reached down, grabbed my pen and struck out the part of the agreement that called for dollars and cents. In its place I wrote the words: "We will pray every day." The father watched me strike those words and he said, " Gary, we may not have a lot of money, but God has called us to do this. Would it be okay if we gave $10 on the first of each month to help support this missionary family?"
A mix of joy and humility washed over me as I realized this was one of the largest gifts I had ever received. God would certainly bless this gift in a wonderful way. That was six years ago. At the beginning of each month I still receive that check for $10 for their missionary family. In its own way, their gift was larger than the $440,000 gift. It is truly an example of the widow’s mite.