The following is a letter written to TWR (Trans World Radio) by Mrs. Y. of Dnepropetrovsk province, Ukraine.
Dear servants in God’s vineyard!
I am in church once a month. My health does not allow me to go more often. I go only when I receive my pension so that I can bring to church my [offering]. I live alone. I have nobody, except my Savior. I am 85 years old. And I guess I could say that I am not needed. But I find myself being a minister for the Lord because “faith without works is dead.”
I have eight places to which I send donations. Just like today, when I received my pension, I immediately made distributions to each of these places. The first priority was the prison ministry, then the rest followed. And again it happened that I had nothing left for TWR. Then I remembered that I had a viburnum shrub, which I had already taken many times to the market, but nobody even took an interest. (The market is very close to me – about two minutes’ walk).
And so I prayed to the Lord: “Dear Lord! For a second time already, I received a letter from TWR, and I have no money to give to your servants. Please, could you make it so that when I take the branches of this shrub to the market, all of it will be bought by one person. Then I will know that I have to send this money to TWR.”
And so I went with my small cart full of viburnum to the market, and I had not yet spread it out when a woman came by and said: “I am taking all of it.” And she bought all of it! After this I went straight to the post office and sent you the money for TWR. That is how the Lord gave you 50 hryvnia” [about US$6].
41 Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. 42 But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents. 43 Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. 44 They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.” Mark 12:41-44
Barbara Shantz, Global Development Liaison for TWR forwarded this priceless giving story to me. I share it with you as today’s meditation because it is likely the most beautiful modern day widow’s mite story I have ever heard.