You may have read the title above and decided this would be a commentary about investments. Well, it is and it isn’t. It IS an investment of sorts, just not the kind of investment you’re probably expecting. I read this story and thought it was worth sharing. It may give you ‘food for thought’.
Many years ago there was a little girl standing near a small church crying her eyes out because one of the children had told her the Sunday School room was too overcrowded to allow her room to participate. The pastor walked by and noticed her shabby, unkempt appearance and her tearful face, and when she explained the reason for her tears, he took her by the hand and led her inside to an empty seat. She was so grateful that she had been included that she went to bed that night thinking about all the children who might have been told the same thing and had no place to worship Jesus.
Two years later, the child was found dead in one of the city’s poor tenement buildings. Her parents called for the kindhearted pastor who had befriended their daughter to help them with her final arrangements. As her little body was moved, they noticed a worn and crumpled purse clutched to her hand – probably one that had been rummaged from a trash dump. Inside was 57 cents and a note scribbled in her handwriting which said, “This is to help build the little church bigger so more children can go to Sunday School.” For two years it seems she had saved every penny she could find for this offering.
The pastor, touched by the note, carried it along with her dirty little purse, to the pulpit for his next sermon and told the story of her unselfish love and devotion. He challenged his parishioners to get busy and raise enough money for the larger building.
A newspaper heard of the story and published it as well. It was read by a realtor who offered the church a fairly large parcel of land worth a lot of money. Of course, they told the realtor that price was way beyond their budget. But he offered it to them for only 57 cents!
Donations came from church members and checks came from far and wide, and within five years, the little girl’s gift had increased to $250,000 – a huge sum for that time near the turn of the century. Her unselfishness had grown into quite an investment!
If you ever visit the city of Philadelphia, look up Temple Baptist Church, a church with a seating capacity of 1,300, and Temple University where hundreds of students are trained. Look, too, at the Good Samaritan Hospital and at a Sundy School building which houses hundreds of Sunday School rooms – so that no child in the area will ever be told “there is no room”. In one of those rooms is a picture of the little girl whose 57 cents made remarkable history. Beside it is a portrait of her kind pastor, Dr. Russel H. Conwell.
I am told this is a true story. Isn’t it amazing what a big impact grew out of a sacrifice of what seemed like such a small offering … only 57 cents?!!!
Quote of the Week: “Great grace and small gifts are better than great gifts and no grace.” ~ John Bunyan
