[Faith-talk] Good Night Message for Saturday, February 16, 2013

[Paul]

Well, for us in the Americas the day is winding down with the Caribbean nations, the Canadian province of Newfoundland & Labrador and the French islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon being the first in our hemisphere to welcome the Lord's Day, followed by other areas in their turns.  The rest of you are already in your Lord's day as this is being written.  Hope that your day, whether morning, afternoon or evening are going well.

Elaine L. Schulte is a writer who lives in Arizona, and she presents us today with her article entitled "A Generous Donation?" which is rendered as follows:

While on a Danube riverboat several years ago, my husband and I took an English-speaking "City and Countryside" tour from Russe, Bulgaria.  Our young tour guide, Lena, stood in the front of our small bus, microphone in hand.

"Our driver and I welcome you to Bulgaria," she said.

She was an attractive young woman, the only one in her family who remained in Bulgaria when Communism was overthrown.

"I love my country," she said.  "I want to help it recover."

We applauded her courage.

Twelve of us nearly filled the small bus.  We rode for several hours through countryside where farmers still plow with horses and bright yellow sunflowers are a major crop.

"Communism put us 50 years behind Western Europe," she said, "but if we work hard, maybe we catch up."

An ancient fortress turned out to be a worthwhile visit.  We climbed up into the fortress ruins, whose year and builders are unknown, and surveyed the land around us.  Bulgaria is a lovely country.

It was nearly noon when we returned to our riverboat.  My husband said, "This is billed as a city and countryside tour.  Can't we see the city?"

Lena reddened with embarrassment.  "I tell you the truth.  The city is nothing to see."

"Isn't there a church?" he asked.

"Yes, of course, the church!" She glanced at her watch.  "It is Sunday, so someone should still be there.  Yes, we go there."

Indeed, someone was at the church:  three elderly ladies tidying up the books and brochures after the morning service.  The church had been beautiful in its day; unfortunately, on the walls, the colors of angels and the holy family had faded.  Though neat and clean, the building was in disrepair--another example of how this church, probably like many others, had suffered under Communism.

After we'd toured the church, my husband looked for a donation box, but saw none.  He asked our guide, "Where can I give a donation?"

"I can give it to the church ladies."

We noticed that she did.

The donation was only ten Euros; we had no use for Euros on our way home.  It amounted to less than ten dollars then.  We didn't know it amounted to one or two days' wages there.

When we settled back in the bus, she stood in front with the microphone again.  She said, "The ladies of the church wish to thank you for your very generous donation."

Our very generous donation?

She was serious.

We cringed.

If ten dollars was a "very generous donation," how much more we could have given to God's work there!

A lesson for us.

Be generous.

And there you have Sister Elaine's article today.  It is so unfortunate that when we in the West (and I include here not only North America but also the UK, western Europe, Australia and New Zealand) that, when we give to missions, in many cases, we probably get letter after letter, or e-mail after e-mail, asking us to prayerfully consider giving more and more.  That's why I personally like to give anonymously.  Besides, doing that is Biblical.  (See Matthew 6:2 for support of this action).

And now may the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob just keep us safe, individually and collectively, throughout this night or day and especially in these last days in which we live.  Your Christian friend and brother, Paul