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Mark 12:43 Good News Translation
43 He called his disciples together and said to them, “I tell you
that this poor widow put more in the offering box than all the others.
Once, while I was teaching at Ikizu in Tanzania during the
period 1967-1971, the Adventist churches in the whole country set aside the
offerings on one Sabbath for Ikizu and its needs. I was excited that we would
get enough money to fund some desperately needed projects.
When the money finally came, it was much less than $100. That
came from some 20,000 believers. I inquired around and asked what had happened.
Why did we receive so little? The members were very candid. Everybody is saying
to themselves, “This is to build up the school. Let the Americans provide the
money; they have lots of it! They have always done it before.” Tanzania had
been independent for less than 10 years. They were still accustomed to the
mzungu (white foreigner) providing everything that was needed. This included
all that the church needed.
My heart sank. I had visions of the country, and especially
the church in that country, taking off and doing great things for God. I used
to tell my students that I was there to work myself out of a job. I told them
that they shouldn’t be bringing a missionary to teach mathematics. There were
lots of Tanzanians who were just as capable as I to do it. They shook their
heads in disbelief. (As a matter of fact, I was the last missionary to teach
math at Ikizu. When I left there at the end of 1971, we had two Tanzanians on
the faculty who were qualified to teach mathematics.)
In 2003 we returned to Tanzania by invitation when the
Adventist church was celebrating its 100th anniversary of Adventism
in that part of Africa. The celebration was held on the campus of Tanzania
Adventist College (TAC). They needed funds to expand the college and to make it
into an accredited university. I was privileged to observe how they had taken
over fund raising in a very serious and professional way. Within a very short
period of time. they had achieved the desired accreditation, and TAC became
Arusha University. Last I heard they were seeking to build a second university.
Since there are over three-quarters of a million believers, they desperately
need more than one university.
We can all learn from the story of the widow’s mites. When we
give as we are able—or step out in faith to give even what we think we cannot
afford it, the Lord again multiplies as He did with the two coins the widow placed
in the offering box.
Lord, expand our vision to encompass the fact that with Your help we can achieve far more than we can possibly imagine.
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