Joyful Stewardship

The following was shared by Bishop Peter Weaver during a special session on the conference budget. Some have asked for the text that I read from my Journal. I wrote it during my December 2005 visit to Nigeria after visiting our mission hospital in Zing where patients desperately wait, sometimes two or three to a bed, for help....for a doctor....we no longer have one there. Next to the hospital complex is a new, state of the art (for Nigeria) eye hospital....also with no doctor....no funds....only a very dedicated nurse. When there was a doctor there, hundreds would come from as far as Cameroon....there are so many in Africa suffering from eye diseases carried by water and insects....many are blind....and waiting....waiting for help....no doctor....no mission funds.....waiting.

The nurse asked me why the United Methodists in the U.S. could not provide more help....like it used to? The day before I had been at a wonderful outdoor service of about 8,000 in a remote area where some of the people had walked for days to get there. Most of those who came are very financially poor, but very rich in spirit. When the offering time came, the music started....and then the dancing...the people from each area represented came joyfully processing, singing and dancing, up to the large offering basket....children, old folk, teenagers (who had climbed up into the trees so they could see), mothers with babies wrapped on their fronts....singing and dancing....led by the pastors dressed in their black robes and white stoles that fluttered and billowed like wings of the Spirit...singing and dancing....such joy....such generosity....such faith that if they risked sharing their little, God would provide for tomorrow (no 401k plans here) ....

These folks from Nigeria were not bringing their offering with joyful dancing because of their easy living and abundant resources. In fact, it seems the exact opposite may be true. Those who are most dependent on God for daily living are the ones who experience the joy of God's provision most powerfully, and so share more abundantly that which they have received. They know themselves less as "consumers" of their resources and more as "stewards" of God's resources.

What might happen if we as a church had this much joy during the Sunday offering?!!! I believe we could all learn from our sisters and brothers in Nigeria what it means to be joyful stewards of all God has provided. This includes joyful stewardship of our financial resources, but many other ways too. During November, we will be focusing on what it means to be joyful stewards of our worship, learning, sharing and serving. The commitment cards this year reflect this more broad definition of stewardship, which have been mailed to all church members and will be available in church during November for any of our active attendees who did not receive the mailing. We hope you will prayerfully consider increasing your joyful stewardship this year as part of God's family!

Hallelujah!!!!