Give and it shall be given
I recently dropped my husband and 15-year-old daughter at the airport. They were off to Guatemala for a week on mission in our church’s adopted village of Zacapa. It was an emotional morning, and as I sat and reflected on what God has done in the past four years, tears welled up in my eyes.
Giving when it hurts
Just five years ago my husband and I started on a church revitalization journey that has stretched both our leadership skills and our faith. There have been days when we prayed that God would intervene and provide money for payroll or the light bill.
So when Gary came home from his first trip to Guatemala not quite a year into our revitalization and announced that the church was going to put a clean water well in this remote village, I have to admit that my faith was lacking. I clearly remember asking, “How in the world are we going to accomplish that?”
I was blinded by the overwhelming obstacles right in front of me, but he knew that this was what God wanted us to do.
The first project cost a whopping $15,000, which felt impossible to me. It took me few months to really embrace this BIG goal. In fact, it was only after I listened to a dear friend of ours, a veteran church planting missionary in Mexico, preach to a group of pastors and missionaries that I felt it might be in reach. He explained how God was teaching him to give away what was not his to keep. He told a story of his need to get into a more permanent space for his church plant and how much of a struggle it was to raise funds. He had managed to save up a good portion of the funds that would be needed to start the process when he crossed paths with another pastor who had even less.
Our friend knew that God was tugging at his heart to give what he had saved, however difficult it would be. He admitted that he didn’t have a good attitude about it at first, but he knew giving away the money was what he should do. Then he explained how God had brought Luke 6:38 to his mind: “Give, and it shall be given to you…”
My heart broke that day, and I confessed to God my sin of doubt and discouragement towards Gary’s goal of putting in the village well. I went back to our struggling church with a renewed sense of passion and trust that God would take care of us, and that he would use us in a big way to change this village.
God blesses those who give
Today, a little over four years later, our third Guatemala team has just returned from Zacapa where they helped to construct a new room in the little school in this remote village. Even though our church has big financial obstacles that we are still struggling to overcome, we have raised over $40,000 to put in a new well, build bathrooms for the school, provide school supplies and food bags for children and families. With the addition of another classroom, the village transformation will be complete.
During this time of raising money for these projects, we have also seen God work miracles in our church as we have been able to pay off old church debt and increased our general fund and mission programs.
Church planting, replanting and revitalization are all tough and downright scary at times. But we have a BIG God who is always faithful and keeps His promises. Don’t be afraid to give. God can’t bless the ministry and church with a “closed fist” mentality. We cannot forget to look at the needs of our communities, our cities and the world – and do everything in our power to try and meet those needs, both physical and spiritual. Don’t live in fear! Trust God to give to you so that you can be a blessing to others.
Jana Moritz is a pastor’s wife and serves as director of operations at City United Church in Lunenburg, MA.