A young girl did not have much to give to missions, but she gave what she had. Please enjoy this wonderful story entitled, “The Girl and the Penny for Missions.”
A little girl loved the Lord and longed to share the message of Jesus Christ to those on the mission field. She contributed a penny to a missionary to help in the work of evangelizing the people of Burma (present day Myanmar). The missionary was so touched by the little girl’s response that he decided to do the most he could with that little penny.
After careful thought, he bought a gospel tract and personally gave it to a young chieftain. The chieftain would not admit that he could not read, yet he burned with a desire to know the contents of the leaflet. He traveled many miles to find someone who would read it to him. After hearing the gospel message, it was not long until the young chief made a profession of faith in Christ.
Returning to his people, the young chieftain told them what the Lord had done for him. Later he invited missionaries to come and share Jesus with the village. Many tribesmen accepted the Good News and were converted.
All this and probably more resulted from one dedicated penny given in Christ’s name by a little girl who gave from her heart.
It wasn’t so much about the amount she gave as it was about her desire to help people far away hear the life-changing message of salvation through Jesus Christ. She did not have much to give, but her investment in the Kingdom of God brought back an amazing dividend.
The Apostle Paul wrote to the Christians in Corinth (2 Corinthians 9:6-11), “Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. As it is written: ‘He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor; his righteousness endures forever’ (Psalm 112:9). Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.”
Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. As a farmer soon learns, never be stingy with the seed. The amount of seed the farmer plants will determine the size of the crop he will have to harvest. He might try to save money on equipment and other areas, but he must always be generous with the seed. Paul explains it this way: You can’t sow sparingly and reap generously. If you have a small amount of seed to sow, you will have a small crop to harvest. But if you are generous with the seed, you will have a generous crop to harvest.
Have you learned the powerful truth of this principle? May you sow generously and also reap generously!
This Sunday, March 26, we will continue our teaching series – Money Matters! – with the powerful principle of “Sowing and Reaping” from 2 Corinthians 9:6-11. Key: What you sow is what you will reap and How you sow is how you will reap. Please invite someone to join you at 10:35am either in the building or online for the Live broadcast on Facebook (Honolulu AG) or our YouTube channel (Honolulu Assembly of God). We Livestream every Sunday morning at 10:35am to both locations (and thankfully our Livestream director will be back this week).
Update: Beautiful new flooring was installed last week in the church kitchen and studio by Vili Fraser and his crew from Tana’s Flooring. Fa’afetai tele lava (“Thank you very much” in Samoan)!
Coming Up: The 58th Hawaii Assemblies of God District Conference will take place March 27-29 at First AG (Red Hill). The evening services are open to the public and everyone is encouraged to attend. Roneel Chaudhary with Chi Alpha Hawaii, the ministry to students at UH, will be with us on Sunday, April 2. Resurrection Sunday is April 9.
Aloha ke Akua!