“You should give away that green dress.”
No.
Why should I?
My other team said the green dress was pretty.
I like that dress.
I have worn that dress FOREVER!!!
And, who are you to tell me what to do?
You just want to change me.
You just want to change my appearance.
You don’t REALLY care about the act of the GIVING.
Do you know how many of my clothes at home I have already given away?
I am already planning to give away some tee-shirts to a girl from Faith Center.
This is my missionary dress.
I need this dress when we have to dress nice.
I AM NOT GIVING THIS DRESS AWAY!
These were all thoughts going through my head last week during a discussion with the girls on my team. And, to tell you the truth, I was a bit hurt and angered by it all. I am a giving person, and I felt like my previous giving was just not seen as enough. If God called me to give the dress away, I would, but as of right now, I didn’t feel that call.
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THREE DAYS LATER.
It is Sunday morning, and my friend Dita arrives for our morning run. He can only run for a little bit, however, because he has to help set up chairs at church. We take off like two rockets and run for about 9 minutes until we arrive at Faith Center. We walk to the front of the church, and lo and behold, there are two lumps laying under two different blankets. Who could these lumps be?? Dita shakes them awake, and they slowly pull back their blankets. One is a girl who has written me and the team several letters asking for support. This was the girl I was planning on giving the tee-shirts too. The second girl is a bit younger and is one I had talked to while at the baptism. It turns out they are sisters and sleep here each night. Now, this isn’t an enclosed church. It is basically a unfinished tin barn with a roof and a few tin slabs on two of the sides. They were basically sleeping outside all alone–two girls with no one to look out for them in the darkness.
That is when it hit me.
“You should give away that green dress . . . . for these girls.”
Dita and I ran back home, I took a quick shower, and then I asked Doreen, one of the house girls, to walk with me to church.
Upon arriving, the girls were nowhere to be seen. Caleb said they were getting ready for church and would be back shortly.
I waited and waited.
I helped set up all the chairs for church.
I waited some more.
But, they never came.
So, I gave the clothes to Caleb and asked if he could give them to the girls when they came.
I walked back home to wait for the time in which church would start.
Well, in that time, I felt like once again I needed to give something away–my blue capris. So, I placed them in my bag to bring to church.
About one hour later, it was time for church. It was our last day to attend, and I would have the chance to share my testimony. I was going to speak on fear and how I am starting to feel set free from it.
As we were walking to church, there were dark clouds in the distance. It looked like rain was coming.
When we entered church, I tried to look for the girls but couldn’t see them anywhere.
Well, we hadn’t been at church for long before a HUGE wind came. Dust was blowing everywhere, the trees were bending, and it started to lightning and thunder. The wind blew so hard that I jumped at one point.
“Do not fear,” the Uganda pastor seated next to me said.
Funny . . . . . fear is EXACTLY what I had planned to speak about at the service.
The wind continued to blow, and it started to pour. The tarps that covered the “overflow” section were coming untied, and the people sitting in that section were starting to get REALLY wet. They all headed over to the main section with us. We were all standing up, and it was PACKED!!
I was surrounded by children, and fortunately, one of those children was a girl who slept at the church, so I had the chance to give her my capris. She looked SO HAPPY!!! I tried to ask if she had received the tee-shirts and dress but I couldn’t really understand her response.
So, as I was saying, it was VERY WINDY, VERY RAINY, and now we were all packed in one place.
And then, the microphones went out. How would anyone hear what was being said now?
So, while the power was out and the wind was blowing and the rain was coming down full force, we started to dance. The dance team was singing and dancing while facing the audience, and back in the corner, I started to do my own dance moves for the kids surrounding me. We were jammed together, and no matter what move I would do, they would follow.
Soon, the power for the sound system came back on, but the wind and rain were still too loud for anyone to hear.
So, we continued to dance.
We ended up dancing for nearly an hour and a half, and I was sweating up a storm. I was having a BLAST!!!
And the funny thing was, being in a tin barn with lightning didn’t even faze me.
Caleb went to the front of church and said he had a short testimony to share. He spoke for awhile, and I wondered when I was going to have the chance to speak. I really wanted to speak now, especially since I now had a perfect introduction thanks to the recent storm.
At the end of Caleb’s talk, he asked if anyone in the audience was in need of new shoes. One girl came forward, and he asked if anyone in the audience would be willing to buy her any. A lady stood up, and it was decided the shoes would be bought on Thursday.
Following that, Caleb started to speak again. He looked back at me, and I heard my name somewhere in the midst of the Kinyarwanda. I picked up my Bible and warily stood up. Was I going to share my testimony/mini sermon now? Next to me, I saw a woman going back into the corner. She was picking up two bags. Wait . . . . these were the two bags containing the clothes for the girls. What was going on? I thought I was preaching.
Caleb called up the two girls I had seen that morning, and the woman had me bring the bags to them.
I gave them the bags in front of the whole church, and they were SO HAPPY!!
And after I sat down, Caleb asked if anyone in the audience wanted to give them money for new shoes.
One by one, various people came forward and gave them their gifts.
Following that, Caleb said they had a gift for me. They would give it to me the following day.
WHAT? WHY? I just wanted to give a gift without anyone knowing. I didn’t want my deed to be trumpeted from the front of the church. I had not given to be rewarded.
Caleb also said that now, I wasn’t going to speak in this church service, but I was going to speak in the conference instead later in the day.
AND, I didn’t get to speak for just 20 minutes. I could have 30!
REALLY?? That was AWESOME news! There are like 2,000 people at that conference! I LOVE to preach, and this was going to be an INCREDIBLE opportunity!!
Man, the simple act of giving away the green dress was reaping amazing results!!
Not only did these girls receive the clothes I had given them, but they had also received money for new shoes. AND, now because of the giving, he was giving me a chance to preach at the conference to thousands of Rwandans!
Not only that, but this act of giving was leading me to desire to give even more. I had wanted to give away only some tee-shirts, but upon giving the green dress, I had also felt called to give away capris. And now, I felt like I needed to give away even more!
When we went home, I took out another tee-shirt, two pairs of socks, a princess puzzle from a girl in Cambodia, and pair of nice shorts Kelly had given me. I put them all in my bag. Whoever God led me to give them to, I would give them to at the conference.
So, later in the day, in front of a couple thousand people, I had the chance to preach. I shared from my life, from my heart, and from the word. I shared how fear has held me captive most of my life and how I would often take control of situations to not be as afraid. I spoke on my eating issue and how being set free of that set me free of many fears and led me to Africa. I spoke on how I was afraid of so much still in Kenya and how I memorized Pslam 91 to help me through. I also shared how now, in Rwanda, I have no longer been afraid of the dark or of demons or even of storms. I shared from Mark 5, how the demons pleaded with Jesus and were afraid of Him, and how I therefore should not be afraid of them. I have Jesus living within me! He is greater and stronger and mightier, and we have no need to fear. Right around this point, Amy walked up and told me, ” you have one minute.” Although I still felt God calling me to say more, I wrapped it up, prayed for the crowd, and went back to my seat. It was quite an experience. God put a huge opportunity in my lap and brought me so much joy through it.
By the end of the conference, I had also been able to give away all of the other items I had brought to give away. I know for sure the puzzle had brightened the day of two little girls, and the clothes were a blessing to another older girl and younger boy.
AND, to top it all off, we went back and had a two hour dance party with our Rwandan friends!! WHAT A DAY!!!! IT WAS THE BEST RWANDAN DAY!!! 🙂
“God LOVES a cheerful giver!”
Give cheerfully from what he has given you, and your cheerfulness to give will only increase!
And, what does it say about a cheerful heart?
A cheerful heart is like good medicine.” -Proverbs 17:22
“A cheerful heart has a continual feast.” -Proverbs 15:15b
So, do not give out of reluctance. Do not give because you feel you have to. Give because you want to. Give because it is your desire. Give because that is what we are called to do!! GIVE CHEERFULLY!
“Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” -2 Corinthians 9:7
KEEP SHINING FOR JESUS, MY FRIENDS!!!
