Sacrificial Living

[catlover]

There was a thread on the other board about sacrificial living. Perhaps can we start another thread about it, such as include posts on why people participate in sacrificial living, exactly what it is too.

Please. :wave:

[ZiSunka]

For several years, I practiced sacrificial living, giving up what a lot of Americans take for granted to give more to the Kingdom of God. I didn't have air conditioning, no calbe, drove a car with 178,000 on it, bought my clothes at thrift shops, was very frugal about how I decorated my small affordable home. I was giving about 30% of my income to missions and other Christian organizations at the time.

Then one day a missionary that I was supporting called me to ask for $850 to pay his rent. This man was supposedly working in the poorest most remote places of Nigeria, so I didn't understand why his rent was so high. After further investigation, I found out that he didn't live among the poor rural people, he lived in an upper class neighborhood in a very posh urban city, and that the church that he pastored has some of the richest members in the country. The average rent in Nigeria is $400 a year for a middle class neighborhood, and this man's rent was more than double that. He didn't even minister among the poor, he just drove through poor villages and had his picture taken so he could send me "proof" that he was hard at work.

Then the missionary I supported in India, who was supposed to be a travelling evangelist throughout an entire region, never even left home, never journeyed outside his home city and didn't do much evangelism inside his home city. Getting on the payroll of a mission organization is just another cushy job to him, and I was sacrificing and paying my hard-earned money to have him sit at home all day instead of getting a job.

A church pastor/teacher that my organization was supporting with large shipments of Bibles and teaching materials told me that he had never received anything from us, over the course of two years! We had sent a dozen shipments with nearly a thousand Bibles, at no small cost! When I started to track them down, he admitted that he took out a post office box but never paid the rental fee ($3 a year), so he had never gotten a single one of them.

I then realized I don't know much about any of the churches or organizations I was supporting.

So I stopped. I very much want to get back to sacrificial living, but I want to do it for the right reasons and give the savings to the right people. After having these experiences with two missions organizations, I don't know who can be trusted, but I will keep looking. Not everyone in God's kingdom is dishonest, and maybe the key is to stick with organizations with local home bases so I can keep an eye on what they are doing with what I give them.

I'm thinking that there are plenty of unsaved North Americans, I don't need to send my money overseas to have an impact on the world.

[Andyman_1970]

I heard recently that Americans spend (tens of millions I forget the exact amount) on ice cream a year. That amount of money could ensure everyone in Africa had clean water to drink...........that really made me think.

[ZiSunka]

I heard recently that Americans spend (tens of millions I forget the exact amount) on ice cream a year. That amount of money could ensure everyone in Africa had clean water to drink...........that really made me think.

Wow!

If we all gave up one ice cream a week and sent the money to MCC...

[catlover]

I heard recently that Americans spend (tens of millions I forget the exact amount) on ice cream a year. That amount of money could ensure everyone in Africa had clean water to drink...........that really made me think.


Is sacrificial living about giving up goodies so we can better other people's lives?

[ZiSunka]

Is sacrificial living about giving up goodies so we can better other people's lives?

Partly, yes.

[catlover]

Partly, yes.


Actually, it sounds right.
it's a refreshing change from some of the "stuff" I have seen about the so called prosperity "gospel".

[ZiSunka]

I'm getting a garage sale ready to get rid of "stuff" I've senselessly collected over the years, and the stuff I've hung onto that belonged to my mom and dad. It's silly to keep all their things, beacuse they certainly aren't going to be coming back to get them! :D

I'm trying to get rid of everything I don't really need, from the three sets of cookware, the 8 sets of dishes, the three extra bedroom sets, the barcalounger I never use, the wall art, the "collectors' edition" cartoon glasses, the beanbag chair and matching ottoman, the extra radios, the desk, the sewing machine and two cabinets, antiques, everything. I hope to have an empty basement and garage (I haven't been able to use the basement or the garage since I moved in, because I had all my stuff plus my parents' stuff). Hanging on to it won't bring them back, and it's not doing anyone any good for me to hoard it.

I'm looking forward to having an empty house.

If you are in the Eastern Ohio area, feel free to drop by and take your pick of thousands of items! ;)

[Andyman_1970]

When we get to that point in the house, my wife starts making multiple delieveries of all that stuff to our local charity.

We were giving away a whole living room set several months ago, and we called a guy at church that is "plugged in" to all the folks that are in need in our community. We called him one morning and told him we had this stuff if he knew of someone who needed it they could have it. He didn't know of anyone, but said he would come over and get it just in case. On the way to our house he got a call about a family who just lost their house to a fire. They had almost everything they needed donated to them funiture wise, but all they needed was living room furniture.........so needless to say they got ours.

It's cool how God works like that.............

[ZiSunka]

When we get to that point in the house, my wife starts making multiple delieveries of all that stuff to our local charity.

We were giving away a whole living room set several months ago, and we called a guy at church that is "plugged in" to all the folks that are in need in our community. We called him one morning and told him we had this stuff if he knew of someone who needed it they could have it. He didn't know of anyone, but said he would come over and get it just in case. On the way to our house he got a call about a family who just lost their house to a fire. They had almost everything they needed donated to them funiture wise, but all they needed was living room furniture.........so needless to say they got ours.

It's cool how God works like that.............

Everytime I move, I give away the bulk of my furniture. When I moved from Cleveland to Dayton, I gave a bedroom set and a living room set to a poor family I knew with 7 children. When I moved from Dayton to Youngstown, I called a local megachurch that had a furniture pantry and they took away a washer, a dryer, a mower, a dining set, a microwave, two TVs and other stuff.

I gave my living room set to an unemployed man I know who's home was being torn down to make way for a golf course.

The church furniture pantry gives the things away to young families on welfare, to poor elderly people who can't afford to replace broken or worn out stuff, and to poor families without insurance whose houses burned down or got flooded or some other disaster. Four years ago when the tornado went through Xenia, they set up 7 families whose houses were destroyed in furnished dwellings.

Hoarding stuff is for the unsaved. Giving away what you are not using is part of sacrificial living, I think.

[Andyman_1970]

Hoarding stuff is for the unsaved. Giving away what you are not using is part of sacrificial living, I think.

Preach it sister.............:amen: :amen: :amen:

Yeah John the Baptist says if you have two of something you're to give it to someone in need who doesn't have one.

[ZiSunka]

Preach it sister.............:amen: :amen: :amen:

Yeah John the Baptist says if you have two of something you're to give it to someone in need who doesn't have one.

Amen! And sometimes even if you only have one of something, you give that away, too. Jesus said if someone wants your coat, give him your tunic, too!

[MrJim]

What makes us want to hold on to stuff?

[ZiSunka]

Beats me. I just had to go make a path through the basement so the electician can get to the circuit box tomorrow.

I know in my case, my dad died so suddenly and I've just had a terrible time letting go of his stuff, because it's like letting go of him and my mom.

[theAmishGirl]

Yeah it is unreal how much Americans waste! In comparision to other industrialized 1st world countries, the top three nations in gross income (headed by the US) are the bottom three in total contribution percentage. Basically say America as 100 Trillion dollars at its disposal, we only give like .8% to other countries in aid. By comparison a country like Sweden or something which has only 200 Billion dollars gives around 10% of thir income! It is truly outrageous considering all that we have been given!!:doh:

[ZiSunka]

Not to mention all the poor we have at home.

I wish we would spend less on war and aggression and more on economic development and education in poor rural communities.

[Andyman_1970]

Yeah IMO it's pretty hypocritical in this country where such a ruckus is made by some about how the US is a "Christian nation" and yet how many children go to bed hungry at night........not the best testimony if you ask me for a country that is "suppose" to be built on Christian values.

[ZiSunka]

That's why I started a non-profit organization that promotes education and ecomonic development in poor rural communities by establishing micro-libraries, distributing free books and making book releases.

Please pray for me and my organization as we seek to serve the Lord and the poor!

[Andyman_1970]

That's totally awesome, I sure will.

I think serving the poor is something the evangelical church for the most part has lost touch with in the last 20 or so years.

[theAmishGirl]

Andyman- I copletely agree- I think that is why we have so many problems with some members of the Muslim nation. This supposed "Christian" nation which should have roughly the same values as they do ends up standing for everything that they hate! They value family- we send our parents to nursing homes by the age of 65. They value community- we run most of our straight into the ground. It will be an ongoing and worsening problem until we wake up- and that isn't likely to happen any time soon!



Lamb- yay! good for you!

[ZiSunka]

They value family- we send our parents to nursing homes by the age of 65.

65 seems pretty young for a nursing home. Maybe 95, but most 65 year olds do very well living on their own.