Excitement was high that day as we prepared our first Christmas program for the indigenous tribe we had been sent to evangelize. They knew that the lowlanders celebrated Christmas by giving gifts and partying, but they had no idea why. This was our perfect opportunity to share the Christmas story with them.
We had learned that if we wanted to get a large turnout all we had to do was announce by word of mouth that we would be providing a feast or gifts to all that came and natives would come out of nowhere.
This afternoon’s program would be at a Pandurucan village. The Jeep couldn’t hold everything so several trips were made to transport enough cooking pots to cook 50 pounds of rice, plus the main course for 100 hungry natives, several 100 plus pound bales of used clothes, boxes of new tennis shoes, new straw hats for the men, bright colored cloths for the women to tie around themselves like bikinis, knives for harvesting rice, piles of blankets needed for cold stormy nights, plus us and our entourage of helpers.
Before leaving the house, I had to hide all our money so if someone broke into our house while we were all gone it would be safe. Just a couple days previously I had made a trip down to the far end of the island to the bank where we could pick up wire transfers. Our whole month’s pay, plus projects’ expense money was in the house. Our dirt floored home had woven bamboo shutters over the window holes fastened down with baling wire. Anyone could have broken in easily.
I decided to hide the money inside a shoe box that was left behind to be given out the next day at the other village we were scheduled to visit.
For the natives present that day it was a surprise to learn that God actually had a Son. They prayed to God in heaven even though they lived in constant fear of evil spirits which had to be appeased in a myriad of ways. As missionaries it was an awesome experience sharing with them for the first time in their lives that Jesus had come to this earth. He had come to show them that God loved them and that He was more powerful than the evil spirits. Now they no longer had to live in fear.
Even though we returned home exhausted, we were on cloud nine. The sight of twenty some campfires cooking rice around the clearing. The contented looks on the faces of people whose stomachs were full for the first time in who knows how long. The happy faces of children after receiving their first toy ever. Old ladies trying to walk in shoes for the first time in their lives, their toes sticking out of places not intended for toes. Looks of pride on the faces of men who had received their first pair of pants. Women wearing bras over the outside of a new blouse instead of under it.
That night we slept soundly and when we awoke, it was with a start. Today would be another busy day! Today we would drive up another dry creek bed about two miles from home where we were scheduled to have our Christmas celebration. Again we had to load and ferry trip after trip of supplies and people. The activities went well and the day was a wonderful success. That night, just like the evening before, we spent a lot of time recounting the events of the day, some made us laugh and others made us cry.
After so much activity the next morning, the house needed cleaned and reorganized, and someone had to go buy some much needed groceries. “By the way, Honey do you remember where I hid the money?” I asked. “No, don’t ask me, you hid it!” my wife replied. The frantic search was on. Finally, I remembered the shoe boxes. I went to where they had been stored and all that remained were a few empty ones of the shoes we had removed from their boxes to use as models for trying on the kids to determine their proper size. All of them were totally empty. The money was gone.
Finally the truth of our situation dawned on us. We had given away the box of shoes with all our month’s supply of money as a Christmas gift. We had no idea who had received it. Natives had come from miles up in the mountains for the event. Some we had never seen before. How could we possibly find out where it was?
We first held a short prayer meeting. Later that day the vice-chief came by and we shared our plight with him. He assured us that he would ask around to see if the money could be located. All we could do was leave it in the Lord’s hands.
A few days later we looked out the window and saw a number of natives approaching our house. We cordially invited them in and gave them a cold drink. Then the chief informed us that they had found the money. The boy who received the shoe box with our money in it, had walked quite a long ways before it had occurred to him to stop and put on his new shoes. When he opened up the box he was shocked to find more money than anyone in his family had ever seen before. He immediately showed it to his father who was fearful that something bad would happen to them if they kept the money. The following day they went in search of their chief to see what should be done. By then he already knew that we were missing the money so recommended that they return it to us. We were so impressed at their honesty. As you might imagine, we gave them a generous reward and thanked them profusely.
It was our God that we were the most thankful to however. We knelt and poured out our gratitude and thanks to Him. Psalm 34:15 says, “The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry.” He most certainly had seen our distress and had heard our prayers. He had said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”
While totally engrossed in giving, He was preparing a wonderful gift in return for us.
Pastor Howard Williams
Seventh-day Adventist Church
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