Joyful Generosity
First Corinthians 9:7 says that God loves a cheerful giver. It stands to reason then that when God sees a whole church family of cheerful givers, he must get really excited. Therefore, I have no doubt God took great delight in the Senegal Mission Fundraiser last Friday night.
The first thing we saw upon entering was the Senegal Market set up in the foyer, with each team member having a small display of goods for sale, whether artwork, music, books or homemade crafts. Not only was it a great way to directly support individual team members, it was a beautiful opportunity to admire the skills of these women who are going.
The silent dessert auction was set up at the back of the sanctuary. But it wasn’t exactly silent. It was such fun listening to the oohs and aahs as people drooled over the mouthwatering cakes and pies. It was even more fun to watch people surreptitiously monitoring the bids on the one they were vying for. Their dismay in discovering a new high bid turned to delight as they topped it and walked away cackling like they’d just pulled off a great heist.
Live music was a big part of the evening, as four different artists or groups served up a wide spectrum of styles, with both serious songs as well as light-hearted silliness. Even the light-hearted songs were offered as gifts of worship to the Lord, and the people gratefully received them with joy. It was marvelous to see both young and old belting out the chorus of Breakfast as the ‘New Boys’ sang, “When the toast has burned and all the milk has turned and Captain Crunch is waving farewell…”
One final highlight might be called generosity squared. The Kahlua Cake was the hot item in the dessert auction with bids quickly racing past $100 and eventually closing out at $250. But then the winner quietly explained to the organizers that they didn’t really want to keep it, and asked to donate it someone else who had put in a bid. After all, the goal was simply to have fun giving to the Lord’s work in this upcoming mission. Mission accomplished!
Pastor Toby
*The total raised for the evening was around $6500. If you missed the evening but would like to watch the music you can do that on our app or at this link. There’s a button to donate to the Senegal Team there as well.
Categories: Evergreen Connection