Thanks Giving
“Ding, ding, ding” – that’s the sound I remember from my childhood of pennies falling into the “birthday offering box” at our church – a small wooden chest with a little bell mounted inside that rang with each coin that was dropped into the slot on the top. The children all delighted in making their offerings after each birthday, proudly counting out the number of years with each coin. Some adults even enjoyed dropping in their coins – though they found a way to release them all at once so no one could calculate their age.
The birthday offering box was actually based on a biblical principle of giving an offering to signify thankfulness for God’s blessing upon your life. (Leviticus 7:11-12) In this case, the children celebrated another year of life and good health. Although the tradition is not very widely observed in the West today, it remains a big part of the worship in many African countries where special offerings are made after a birthday, a wedding anniversary, the birth of a baby, a school graduation, release from a hospital stay, protection during an accident – essentially any good thing that has happened in the worshiper’s life.
I can’t help but notice that Giving Tuesday (November 28) follows immediately after Thanksgiving (November 23) and that any year-end gifts that we wish to count toward this year’s taxes must be posted by midnight December 31, immediately after Christmas when we celebrate the greatest reason to be thankful – that God loved us enough to send His Son so that we can enjoy eternal life with Him in heaven and abundant and healthy lives through Him here on earth. It seems to me that this timing must be more than a coincidence. Maybe it’s God’s way of helping us observe the thanksgiving offering.
When I think of dividing the word “Thanksgiving” into its two components – “thanks” and “giving” – two thoughts come to mind: I’m thankful that I have something to give, and I’m thankful that I have something worthy of giving to. If you followed our recent newsletters, you are aware of a couple projects that Teach All Nations is sponsoring in addition to our ongoing ministry. In the Congo, we were able to donate an ultrasound machine to a very poorly equipped hospital. On the first time the machine was used, the life of a baby was saved because the doctor realized that there were complications that required an immediate C-section. Having seen the difference that one piece of equipment made, we determined to find a way to fully equip the facility. In Liberia, we have helped construct a clinic in a remote area where it is a common experience for patients to die while being transported to the only hospital in the area – which is miles away over roads that are impassable during much of the year. Now that the building is complete, we are dedicated to making it functionable by totally furnishing and equipping it.
Just like the Sunday School children dropping their thanksgiving pennies into the “birthday offering box, we all must be thankful that we have enjoyed another year of life because of the blessing of God – including assessable, well-equipped healthcare facilities. I invite you to scan the QR coded on the insert and make a thanksgiving offering this Thanksgiving season so that others can share these same blessings and be able to celebrate life and health this time next year.
Any donations through the “donation” link on our website (www.teachallnationsmission.com) or sent through the mail will go for our ongoing ministry of holding pastors’ and leaders’ conferences and publishing and distributing training materials in both English and the local languages – a ministry that takes us literally around the world every year.