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Summer Allen: Perceived impact and efficacy

This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of the Lord’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, others will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else. And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you. Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift! 2 Corinthians 9:12-15

“Research suggests that to maximize the happiness that comes from giving, people must feel that their giving has had or will have a positive impact on the recipient. In one study, giving more money to a charity led to more happiness, but only when participants were told that their donation would specifically buy a bed net for a child in Africa (and how that bed net would make a difference in that child’s life) and not when they were told their donation would simply support the charity’s general fund.

This suggests that highlighting the impact that a donation or gift has on its recipient may increase the emotional rewards associated with generosity, and could lead to increased giving.

Another study found that, across three different experiments, adding tangible details about a charity’s interventions increase donations—but only when these details increased “the impact that donors believed their contributions would make.” Perceived impact and efficacy has been identified as an important factor in other studies of charitable giving.

In short: knowing a donation is likely to make an impact makes people more likely to donate and to feel happier after doing so.”

Summer Allen in “The Science of Generosity” White Paper produced by the Greater Good Science Center.

As soon as I read this research finding my mind went to the words of the Apostle Paul in his second letter to the Corinthians. He reported triple impact. He told the Corinthians that their giving supplied the needs of the people. They had been starving and now they were fed.

But it did more than that. It resulted in praise and thanksgiving to God, because it had deepened the faith of the recipients. And it did more than that. It inspired those who had been blessed to offer prayers for the givers to celebrate the grace that God had given them. And it concluded praising God for His indescribable gift.

What’s the point for us today?

We should share the perceived impact and efficacy of giving on social and spiritual levels. We should do this with integrity and accuracy. But we must not stop there. We should share how the giving shapes the people, gives them hope, inspires them to give thanks, lift up prayers, and praise God. We should celebrate the spiritual as well as social impact.

Let’s each think how we can do this in our settings.

For me, today is the final day of our first GTP trip to Costa Rica. Before the team heads to Colombia, here’s how I would sum up the experience (reply to this email if you want a copy of the trip report as we wrap up our work in Costa Rica later today).

Giving, from people like you, sent us to serve them freely, and it worked. God worked through prayer, one onsite replicable training, two sermons, three meals with influencers, and four onsite teaching events in only five days to bring hope and help to Costa Rica. God raised up a coalition eager to follow a plan to rebuild what is broken down like Nehemiah in the next 52 days.

That’s not a typo, they want to act now to spread generosity and accountability! The trip cost $6,000. We served a total of about 600 people. So, that breaks down to about $10 a person. Look at the photo above. A gift of $10 gave that person what they needed to write a new future for their people. That’s impact.

And locals on the ground will keep the fires going after we leave. We rejoice in the LORD. Thanks for your giving. If you want to spread similar impact in Colombia, make a gift here. And pray for our safe travel to Bogotá later today.

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Summer Allen: Cross-cultural evidence

One person gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty. A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed. Proverbs 11:24-25

“This study asked people from three countries—Canada, Uganda, and India—to remember a time they had spent money on
themselves or someone else. The participants from all three countries who were told to recall spending money on someone else reported greater happiness than those assigned to recall spending money on themselves, and this effect appeared to be independent of the role that the spending could play in fostering a social relationship (which in itself could lead to more happiness)…Canadian and South African participants were given the option to anonymously buy a goody bag filled with treats. Half were told they would be buying the goody bag for themselves while the other half were told they would be buying the treats for a sick child they would never meet. Across both cultures, the participants who spent the money on the bag for the sick child reported greater positive affect than did those who bought the bag for themselves, suggesting that people still reap more happiness from giving to others they will never meet than from spending on themselves. Together these findings provide cross-cultural evidence that generosity leads to happiness in a wide variety of contexts.”

Summer Allen in “The Science of Generosity” White Paper produced by the Greater Good Science Center.

The picture above features the second of four strategic meetings in Costa Rica to build a coalition of workers willing to collaborate to form a peer accountability group (like ECFA in USA) in the four main cities of the country.

This group convened in Cartago.

As we continue following this extensive research, we see that generosity leads to happiness not just for Westerners, but rather, for people all over the world. I see it in in my travels, especially in the majority world. This is refreshing to read.

If finds roots in today’s timeless Scripture from Proverbs.

“The one who gives freely gains more” is exactly the finding of the research. Praise God for this affirmation of biblical truth. When we make it a way of life, it leads to happiness and flourishing, thank the Lord.

Would you pray that Costa Ricans grasp this in our training today?

We facilitate the Stations of Generosity training for about 60 influential Christian workers who want to experience the training and train others. Appreciate your prayers. Our aim is to multiply this throughout the country.

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Summer Allen: WEIRD or not

Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 2 Corinthians 9:6-7

“So giving money to others may make us happy, at least according to one study, but does being happy make us give? It just might, according to a different study by the same researchers. In this study, 51 people were randomly assigned to recall and describe the last time they spent 20 or 100 dollars on themselves or someone else. They next reported their current level of happiness. Participants then anonymously chose whether they wanted to spend money provided by the experimenters on themselves or someone else—whichever they thought would make them the happiest.

As in previous studies, people felt happier after remembering a time they had spent money on others, and people who had reported feeling happier were more likely to choose to spend money on someone else. Importantly, it was not that remembering spending money on others led people to be generous in the future—happiness was the key mediating factor (i.e., people who reported great happiness from spending on themselves were also more likely to spend money one someone else). These results suggest a positive feedback loop between generosity and happiness: giving can make people happy, which can encourage them to give again.

Importantly, almost all of the aforementioned studies that have explored the connection between giving and happiness have used participants from WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic) countries, raising the question of whether the connection is a universal psychological phenomenon or a culturally determined one.

A study designed to answer this question found that the emotional reward people experience in response to giving to others may be universal. Survey data from 136 countries showed that people who had reported giving to charity in the past year reported greater happiness, even after controlling for potential confounds such as household income, age, gender, marital status, education, and food inadequacy. In fact, the happiness derived from donating to charity was on par with the level of happiness associated with a doubling of one’s household income.”

Summer Allen in “The Science of Generosity” White Paper produced by the Greater Good Science Center.

Love this! As a WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic) person serving in a non-WEIRD place, Costa Rica, the research shows that the message of generosity brings joy regardless of socioeconomic status.

And people don’t figure it out (because it’s counterintuitive to our flesh) until they live it out that generous sowing results in both cheerfulness and generous reaping: equal to the joy of having your income double.

Think about what this finding reveals. We discover in giving that we don’t end up empty, but rather, enriched. We don’t become destitute, but discover our role is to distribute. What does this mean for you as you read this?

Consider this week, whether you come from a WEIRD country or not: How you might God want you to be, as C.S. Lewis put it, “surprised by joy,” by giving to some person or some organization that you least expected?

For GTP we have a proverbial doubleheader today. Delivering biblical teaching and facilitating “Stewardship and Standards” discussions in Cartago, Costa Rica, from 9am-1pm and in Alajuela, Costa Rica, from 6-9pm.

Pray for an abundance of stamina as we watch God build a coalition eager to form a peer accountability group (like ECFA in USA) among the influential workers in the four provinces of Costa Rica. It’s happening by God’s grace.

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Summer Allen: Can money buy happiness?

“Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?” John 6:9

“Can money buy happiness? It depends on what you spend it on. A survey of 632 Americans found that spending money on other people was associated with significantly greater happiness, regardless of income, whereas there was no association between spending on oneself and happiness. This study also found that employees who spent more of their bonus money on others reported feeling happier than they had before receiving the bonus, while other types of spending had no effect on happiness.

Additionally, participants in a lab experiment who were told to spend money on someone else reported greater happiness than participants who spent money on themselves, regardless of whether they spent 5 or 20 dollars. This suggests that altering our spending patterns so that we spend as little as 5 dollars on another person could make us significantly happier.

Why, then, do people not spend more of their disposable money on others? The prior study looked at that question, too. A significant majority of the participants predicted that spending money on themselves would make them happier than spending on others. This suggests that people are not inherently aware of the happiness benefits that can come from spending their money generously, and that interventions that promote such spending may help increase societal happiness.”

Summer Allen in “The Science of Generosity” White Paper produced by the Greater Good Science Center.

Today I am preaching twice on from Mark 6:30-44 at a local church, Rosa de Sarón, in San José, Costa Rica. The title of my message is “The Power of Generosity: Change your Mindset and Change the World.”

While my message does not cite this research, one aspect of  mindset change relates to the finding that “people are not inherently aware of the happiness benefits that can come from spending their money generously.”

For example, the first disciples focused on the size of the need and instead of celebrating the boy’s sharing, they disregarded it as having any possible impact on himself or the people.

The fact that a significant majority of the people in the research study “predicted that spending money on themselves would make them happier than spending on others” shows the need for mindset change and teaching on generosity.

We “think” that our giving can’t make a difference for others and we don’t realize the impact it can have on us. So, here’s a challenge for you as you read this research on the impact of giving $5 or $20.

Make a gift of any size today to GTP. Don’t do it for me, do it for the national workers we serve like this group from Heredia, Costa Rica (pictured above). But why support efforts that serve them.

They want to help form a peer accountability group (like ECFA in USA) for churches and ministries in Costa Rica. Your gift sent us to serve them. Click here to give and assess later how you feel about it.

The cost of this teaching or training trip serving 8 groups in the four provinces of Costa Rica including air travel for our team of three is about $6,000. A small price to shape the future of ministry in a nation.

I pray someone deploys $6,000 of God’s resources and then sees how that makes them feel.

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Summer Allen: Generosity can make you happier

Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” Hebrews 13:5

“Many studies investigating the link between generosity and psychological well-being have zeroed in on happiness specifically. While popular culture may imply that happiness comes from focusing on yourself, research suggests the opposite: Being generous can make you happier.

This seems to be true even from a young age: One study found that toddlers younger than two exhibited more happiness when giving treats to a puppet than when receiving treats themselves and were even happier when they gave some treats from their own bowl.

Indeed, even small acts can increase happiness. A study of male undergraduates found that helping pick up spilled objects increased their positive mood. In fact, just agreeing to help improved their mood, although not as much as agreeing and actually helping. Students who were not asked to help (and didn’t volunteer to do so) saw a small drop in their mood.

Participants in another study were instructed to perform acts of kindness for others or the world over a six-week period; these participants reported increased positive emotions and decreased negative emotions, while others who were instructed to perform acts of kindness toward themselves did not report any emotional benefits.

While small acts of generosity can seemingly increase happiness, more sustained generosity may be even more effective. A study using data from more than 29,000 adults found that people who volunteered for religious organizations reported greater happiness than people who did not volunteer for these organizations.

In addition, more religious volunteering made people feel, or at least report feeling, greater happiness (as calculated via regression), perhaps by making them appreciate the good in their lives more deeply rather than comparing themselves to others who have more.”

Summer Allen in “The Science of Generosity” White Paper produced by the Greater Good Science Center.

Whether you are young or old, the research reveals that generosity and service can enrich you emotionally and make you happier. As I pondered this, three applications emerged.

Firstly, we would all do well to have margin to help people with urgent needs, like a student aiding others who have spilled objects. Having margin to help will make me happier.

For example, I am trying to leave for appointments or meetings earlier. Rather than race to get there, I find leaving earlier relaxes me and gives me eyes possible needs around me.

Secondly, we will all be more emotionally healthy if we give thought to planning intentional acts of kindness and generosity. Imagine more emotional health in this broken world!

That particular study lasted six weeks. Experts say that doing something for that length of time can create a habit. What might you do over the next six weeks to form a new habit?

Thirdly, when we “appreciate the good in our lives more deeply rather than comparing themselves to others who have more” we appear as content and happy people. Imagine the impact that can have on the watching world.

There’s lots of emptiness and discontentment out there. Perhaps rather than focusing on what you don’t have today, make a list of things you are thankful for and thank God.

And if generous people appear on that list, thank them for the blessing they are in your life and how they have modeled for you how to grasp greater happiness and abundant life. Send them a short message today.

I am happy to report that our team made it safely to San Jose, Costa Rica (see header photo). I teach on “Stewardship and Standards” in the first of four cities today. Thanks for your prayers.

This service brings me happiness and has great impact. It empowers national workers to build trust and grow local giving to God’s work and multiplies the reach of their ministries.

Reply to get a copy of the trip schedule to pray for our GTP team serving in Costa Rica and Colombia. Click here to support this work with your giving. It will make you happier!

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Summer Allen: Retirement community research

Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality. Romans 12:10-13

“A study of 585 people living in a retirement community in Florida found that people who had reported more frequent volunteering and informal helping in one wave of the study reported higher life satisfaction at a later wave of the study.

Additionally, altruistic attitudes, more volunteering, and more informal helping all predicted positive emotions at the later time point.

More frequent volunteering also predicted fewer future depressive symptoms. The connection between having altruistic attitudes and experiencing positive emotions may be especially important for older adults who have health problems that make actual volunteering and helping more difficult.

This finding suggests that having a “generous spirit,” even when it may difficult to act on that spirit, can help maintain positive emotions in later life.”

Summer Allen in “The Science of Generosity” White Paper produced by the Greater Good Science Center.

I loved this nugget of research as my parents live in a retirement community in Florida and they love to volunteer. Share this with people like them if you know others that fit this category.

Notice the insight the research surfaced: “This finding suggests that having a “generous spirit,” even when it may difficult to act on that spirit, can help maintain positive emotions in later life.”

When we serve others, it lifts us up over time. What a beautiful picture! When we do the kinds of things the Apostle Paul wanted the Romans to do, it does not leave us depleted, but rather, make us delighted.

So, even when we are getting older and service seems harder, we can expect to be happier as a result! What a blessing that following biblical instructions will not leave us spent, but instead, strengthened.

Though I am younger, I find that rigorous service actually restores my strength. I get energized by it. But, please pray for me, I fly to Costa Rica and then Colombia for GTP program work from 25 August to 4 September 2023.

As peer accountability groups (like ECFA in USA) have come together in Guatemala (CONFIABLE) and Bolivia (Calidad), workers in these countries want PAGs too for strengthening accountability and generosity.

To support the work of our team in these countries, click here to give. Reply to this email to get a copy of the trip schedule to pray. And ask God for protection over my family whilst I travel too. Thanks.

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Summer Allen: Females, oxytocin, and generosity

No widow may be put on the list of widows unless she is over sixty, has been faithful to her husband, and is well known for her good deeds, such as bringing up children, showing hospitality, washing the feet of the Lord’s people, helping those in trouble and devoting herself to all kinds of good deeds. 1 Timothy 5:9-10

“Oxytocin is a hormone and neuropeptide (a peptide hormone found in the brain) that is involved in a host of physiological functions, including childbirth and lactation… Oxytocin levels may also influence charitable donations. In one study, a dose of oxytocin did not increase the percentage of people who chose to donate to charity part of their earnings from a lab experiment, but it did increase the amount of money given by those who did decide to donate. Another study found that participants who were given extra oxytocin before watching a series of public service announcements (PSAs), donated more money overall, donated to more causes, and reported more concern for the people in the PSAs.”

Summer Allen in “The Science of Generosity” White Paper produced by the Greater Good Science Center.

In today’s Scripture, the Apostle Paul describes “real widows” as faithful women who did things like raise children and exhibit a lifestyle of good deeds.

Perhaps you are thinking of your grandmother or mother right now? I know I am, though my father is still living, so my mom is not a widow. But what’s the point today?

Yesterday we looked at research about males. Today females get the spotlight.

The research shows that God made women’s bodies to produce a hormone that fuels their generous giving and service. The more it produces, the more they give. Think about how awesome that is. It reveals how truly wonderfully God made women. When they do the things God made their bodies to do, such as give birth and lactate, these acts do not leave them empty, but rather, the acts enrich them for more generosity.

And, as raising children is no easy task, this teaches us that God generously wired women for this work and when they do it, He continuously fuels them with this hormone. Men play a role too. For sure, but let’s celebrate this scientific finding linked to women and generosity.

God, thanks for our grandmothers and mothers and for enriching their bodies for generous service as they do what you made them to do: give us tender-loving care. Amen.

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Summer Allen: Males, testosterone, and generosity

He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you but to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God? Micah 6:8

“In one study of male college students, some were given a dose of testosterone while others received a placebo. Then they had the opportunity to offer to share money with a stranger. The offers that the students in the testosterone group made were, on average, less generous, and this effect scaled across testosterone levels—men with higher levels of testosterone (DHT) were less generous than the men with lower levels. Higher DHT was also associated with an increased likelihood that students would use their own money to punish game participants who were ungenerous toward them.”

Summer Allen in “The Science of Generosity” White Paper produced by the Greater Good Science Center.

I found this interesting. The world urges men to boost their DHT levels. Such levels actually minimize our generosity. Then as I pondered what the Lord wants from men, it appears as opposite to the world.

He looks for men to act justly (that means to be generous and make sure everyone has enough), to love mercy (that means to shift from giving people what they deserve to giving them what they need), and to walk humbly with God.

My mom alway reminds me that this was my grandfather’s life verse. Byron Drake Gregg aimed to do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God. And I’m Gary Gregg Hoag, named partly after him.

So that’s my legacy to follow. Whether or not you have such a legacy, you can leave one. Males, don’t aim to boost your DHT. Focus on making sure everyone has enough, give people what they need, and walk humbly with God.

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Summer Allen: Better

In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” Acts 20:35

“Beyond making people feel rewarded and increasing their chance of landing a mate, generosity seems to provide many other positive benefits for the giver. Studies suggest that these benefits include better physical and psychological health…
When it comes to generosity and health, it really may be better to give than to receive. A study of patients with end-stage renal disease found that those who gave more social support—be it through social interaction, material aid, advising, or emotional support—to friends and family were significantly less likely to die over a 12-month period, whereas those who received social support were no more or less likely to die…

Another study looked at the effects of giving and receiving emotional support (such as making their spouse feel loved and cared for or listening to them when they needed to talk) and instrumental support (such as help with transportation, childcare, housework, etc.) on mortality among older married couples… After controlling for a number of variables, including the health of the participants, the researchers found that people who reported providing more emotional support to their spouse and/or instrumental support to friends, relatives, and neighbors had a significantly reduced death rate during the five-year study period, compared with those people who had reported offering less support.”

Summer Allen in “The Science of Generosity” White Paper produced by the Greater Good Science Center.

Following God’s design for living, giving, serving, and love is the better way to go. So cool that research affirms that benefits include locating a mate and living a longer and more rewarding life.

And while this represents secular research which cites dozens of sources, I found it ironic that that Summer Allen echoed Jesus (“better to give than to receive”) and yet did not cite the the biblical reference.

She would argue that generosity is the better way to go because of all the benefits it gives you. Paul would say to do it because it demonstrates actively remembering and following the instructions of Jesus.

How might you show generous emotional support to someone today? Follow God’s leading. Do it because it’s what our compassionate Lord Jesus would want you to do. It’s better. And the benefits will outweigh any expense or effort.

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Summer Allen: Influence on little ones

If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. Matthew 18:6

“Studies of older children suggest how context and developmental stage influence this seemingly inherent drive to help others. Three-year-olds will mostly share their rewards from a collaborative task equally, even when they could have taken more for themselves, but share less equally when rewards came from a windfall or a task they completed on their own. For three-year-old children, previous sharing by a partner led to more sharing with that partner later, but for two year olds a partner’s previous sharing had no impact on their later sharing. Five year olds, but not three year olds, increased the amount they shared with someone who they thought might reciprocate their generosity. Collectively these studies suggest that even relatively early in human development, children’s generosity is influenced by contextual factors that become more nuanced as children get older.”

Summer Allen in “The Science of Generosity” White Paper produced by the Greater Good Science Center.

Jesus spoke pointedly about our influence on little ones. The research tells us why. Contextual factors can greatly influence the development of children, and this includes their generosity.

Our interaction with them can point them into the right direction or lead them astray.

If we say that America is following Europe and becoming post-Christian, might it be because we are not passing on our Christian values, including generosity to our children and grandchildren.

So, what we can do is not fret about it but form our children and grandchildren with intentional activities.

Try this. When our kids were little we put them to work. Make your bed. Put your toys away. And each week we gave them three dollars. A dollar to give, a dollar to save for larger or future purchases, and a dollar to spend.

We gave them jars. They made labels for them. Do this with your children and grandchildren.

It teaches them to give, save, and spend within their means. And the most important lesson is that it shows them how to make money their slave and not be a slave to money. And positions them to influence their peers.

I will share one other lesson learned related to fly fishing with my son.

When he was little, he was thrilled to catch a fish. He even loved putting them in a spot in the river where he could look at them after releasing it. Then as he got older, he started to want to compete with me, to catch more fish.

Rather than compete, we determined to take turns on great spots and count our total fish count.

I think the year he was about 13 years old, we set a goal of catching 500 fish that year and landed, 541. No kidding. We just went fishing again and landed 11 beautiful Greenback Cutthroat Trout in Herman Gulch in 2.5 hours on the water.

The best part of the outing was his generosity toward me.

He makes his way up the ice-cold stream faster than me, and what would he do. He would sight fish holding in difficult spots in the clear water and we would take turns catching them. It was technical and fun fly fishing.

This generous sharing of epic experience started when he was little. I did the same thing for him.

I was not as skilled as he has become, by far. By back in the day I tied on his flies and gave him most of the good runs and holes. Someday I will need him to do the same for me.

Not yet though. When the day comes I am sure he will help me. Enjoy the picture of one of the trout.

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