Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for people to humble themselves? Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed and for lying in sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord? Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? Isaiah 58:5-7
“If you want to have real fun, you must ride the generosity roller coaster. I live in Guatemala, a country with many challenges. But maybe the biggest challenge is to be able to see what the Lord sees and do what the Lord wants. There is so much poverty here that those who were born here have learned to accept it as part of the landscape. I am pastor of a church called Real Life, and through verses in Isaiah 58, the Lord began to awaken my heart to help the needy. In this passage, God says to His people, “I’m not impressed with your religion if you do not dedicate yourself to help the poor.”
As a result of understanding the will of God, we decided to start a movement called Iniciativa 58 and also to do a nationwide campaign called 40 Days of Generosity. We wanted to teach churches and Christians across Guatemala the blessing of giving and to show God’s love for needy people in our country. We had a vision event and challenged pastors to give out the devotional, to preach on generosity, and to invite families to read the devotional together every day. At the end of the forty days, we asked each church to raise the greatest offering that they had ever collected. But to do this with pure motives, the offerings that churches received were to go to help the needy. Over one hundred churches, denominations, ministries, businesses, and groups decided to join the 40 Days of Generosity for our country…
When the forty days were over, we didn’t receive a $20,000 offering or a $40,000 or $60,000 offering. When all the offering monies were counted at our church, we received $469,000 USD—enough to build 312 houses! This was the greatest offering our church had ever received in one event. We praise the Lord for what He did in us and through us during these forty days.
It’s fun to be generous. In this short devotional, I cannot tell about all the miracles we saw in the process. What I can do is invite you to have fun on the generosity roller coaster, in which we obey God and see Him supernaturally provide.”
Rony Madrid in “The Generosity Roller Coaster: Forty Days of Generosity” excerpt from Day Six of Seven Day Generosity Challenge by John Wiebe and the MB Foundation. Click to download the PDF and go through it.
Rony Madrid is a friend. He not only leads Real Life Church, he helped activate CONFIABLE, the peer accountability group for Guatemala, like ECFA in the USA. He wants to multiply faithful stewards and have ministries follow standards to contribute to the sustainability of God’s work there.
And I love the word picture he uses of the roller coaster. Trusting God and giving generosity puts us on an adventure. On the way, we quickly realize we are not in control, that the journey is a breath-taking adventure, and afterwards we want to do it again because of the joy of the experience.
Don’t miss that Rony desired this not just for his church, but also for his country, his people. What about you? What if you not only tried to rally generosity for your home but what if you ignited a movement in your church and that impacted your community? If you do, it will be a roller coaster!