Summer Allen: Awe

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun. It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, like a champion rejoicing to run his course. It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is deprived of its warmth. Psalm 19:1-6

“Feelings of awe, defined as the feeling of being in the presence of something vast that transcends one’s understanding of the world, can also increase generosity.

In one study, participants who watched awe-inspiring videos reported greater willingness to volunteer their time to help others—among a host of other positive effects—when compared with participants who watched videos that induced other emotions.

Another study found that participants who took photos of nature scenes that they found inspiring, and later wrote a description of those feelings, reported feeling kinder, more helpful, and more connected to others than did participants who took photos of human-built environments or who did not take any photos.

And yet another study asked some participants to stand among towering eucalyptus trees and look up for one minute, while other participants simply looked up at a building for one minute. Those who looked at the trees experienced more awe—and also picked up more pens for a researcher who “accidentally” spilled them on the ground.

Thus, besides the benefits that come from experiencing wonder at the world, encouraging people to feel awe may have the added benefit of leading those people to behave more generously.”

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

Imagine the timing. I did not plan this.

I read this on Sunday morning before heading off to preach and then before our afternoon activity. The GTP Colombia team wanted to take us to Catedral De Sal Zipaquira or in English, the Salt Cathedral of Zipaquirá, to do the Stations of the Cross underground in the salt mines (see photo of the salt cross cathedral).

Getting out of the city (and traffic) of Bogotá provided relief for us and a refreshing time to worship and praise God for all He did for us on the cross, and also all He did to activate a peer accountability movement in Colombia this week. That’s right, a group will form called “Orden” meaning “Order.”

It’s in the Colombia seal to promote “Freedom and Order” and inspired by 1 Corinthians 14:40, “but all things should be done decently and in order.” The verse implies “do things with standards and in order.” We stand in awe of God for how He brought that together. Reply for a copy of the trip report to read all about it.

Anyway, on the last day they took us to this place. It inspired awe in us and motivates us to pursue the vision of spreading generosity and accountability all across Colombia and the world for God’s glory.

When this posts I will be somewhere in the air between Bogotá and Houston arriving on the night flight and getting home late morning. Paula and Carla, my fellow team members return to Guatemala City on Monday afternoon. Thanks for your prayers for safe travel for all of us.

We are good because Jesus takes care of everything.

But be sure to fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things he has done for you. 1 Samuel 12:24

“Feelings of gratitude also appear to motivate generosity, regardless of whether one is receiving or giving the thanks. In one study, students who provided helpful comments on another student’s cover letter were significantly more likely to help a second student with their cover letter if they had received a brief thank you note from the first student; another study found that people who were thanked after pledging to give money in the future were less likely to renege on their decision to give. Yet another study found that people induced to feel gratitude to someone who provided them with assistance later spent more time helping that person and a stranger than did people who had not experienced gratitude.”

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

God has been good to us in Colombia. The vision for a peer accountability group (like ECFA in USA) to help grow stewards who follow standards and build sustainable ministries has been born.

The group will be called “Orden.” It means “order” in English. It’s in the Colombia seal to promote “freedom and order” and inspired by 1 Corinthians 14:40, “but all things should be done decently and in order.” The verse implies “do things with standards and in order.”

In response to all God has done here, I have gratitude. As our research continues, it seems that gratitude inspires greater generosity. We would anticipate this and the research backs it.

So, what’s that mean for us today? Let’s express gratitude (it costs us nothing) wherever we go. As we do, we can be confident that it just might inspire those around us to grow in generosity. I’m thinking our work here in Colombia will inspire people to grow in this area. I pray you do too.

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Colossians 3:12

“One of the most studied psychological motivations for generosity is empathy… Related to empathy is compassion—caring for and wanting to help those in need—and research suggests that feelings of compassion can also lead people to behave generously… Interventions designed to increase a person’s sense of compassion can also increase their propensity to engage in prosocial behaviors. One study found that participants who had engaged in short-term compassion training were more helpful…and another study found that compassion training increased the amount of money participants gave.”

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

The “Stations of Generosity” training went well in Bogotá, Colombia. Today Paula, Carla, and I will coach a group of ministry workers on the use of GTP templates. Each one has completed our diagnostic tool with the vision of building local capacity.

Committed, receptive, and attentive would describe the workers we have served. Committed to our Lord Jesus Christ, receptive to teaching, training, and coaching, and attentive to applying what they learned and sharing it with others.

Our audience has ranged from the Evangelical Alliance for Colombia to pastors and ministry worker and missionaries and servants who work in the Amazon or with indigenous groups in South America. Great people thankful for biblical and practical help.

Part of what drives my service is compassion. It was my word for the year a few years back. My word this year is gratitude, and I am so grateful for this research. If you study compassion training you focus on topics like the themes in this verse from the Apostle Paul.

So, again, the findings affirm the biblical teaching which calls us to put on five things. Read the list. Are any missing in your life. God train us put on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience so that we might serve as your generous disciples who help and give more.

So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. Mark 7:12

“Generosity also seems to carry benefits when interactions between people do not go as planned because of unexpected circumstances (what is termed “social noise”). For example, imagine this scenario: Your friend did not respond to your email because of a problem with his internet connection. Because you did not know of the problem, you may think your friend is ignoring you, which may lead you to delay responding to the next email from your friend as a form of reciprocation. One study found that generosity can help overcome the detrimental effects caused by this type of “noise” in social dilemmas.

The study found that rather than responding to someone’s actions with strict reciprocity in “tit-for-tat” fashion, behaving slightly more generously than that person’s last action leads to more overall cooperation. This suggests that adding a small generosity buffer and giving someone the benefit of the doubt may lead to more cooperation and stronger relationships. However, the paper also highlights how deferring to increased generosity can sometimes be problematic—say, in a situation where two friends end up buying each other more and more expensive gifts even when neither party actually wants to spend that much.

A follow-up study with different experimental paradigms confirmed and extended the findings from this study. In fact, results from the second study showed that “even when there was no noise, the other-regarding strategies elicited equal or even greater cooperation levels (in case of a generous strategy) than did tit-for-tat.” According to the researchers, these results suggest that “the power of generosity is underestimated in the extant literature, especially in its ability to maintain or build trust, which is essential for coping with noise.”

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

I really resonated with this research on social noise. Life happens. It’s complicated. We intend to reply to a message, and something happens. Recently our internet was out for two days. It seemed like two years.

And yet, the research proves that if we extend grace to others and engage “other-regarding strategies,” they will likely extend grace to us. This helps strengthens our social interaction and exhibits our Christian faith.

Our onsite teaching on “Stewardship and Standards” went phenomenal in Bogotá, Colombia, yesterday (pictured above). Today, we train trainers to replicate “Stations of Generosity.” Keep praying for us as there’s lots of social noise.

We anticipated 60 people today and about 50 came. “Social noise” or stuff in life kept about 10 away. They messaged and sent regrets. Of course, we responded graciously and let them know where to find the information they missed.

How might you engage “other-regarding strategies” in your social interaction to exhibit generosity? Let’s resolve to extend the amount of grace to others as we want God to extend to us.

And now, brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. 2 Corinthians 8:1

“Another study looked at how generosity can be propagated through a workplace. This study of Coca-Cola employees in Spain assigned some employees to be givers who selected five acts of kindness (such as bringing someone a drink or emailing a thank you note) for a receiver they selected from a subset of their coworkers.

Meanwhile, other employees were designated observers who neither gave nor received the acts of kindness. Social network analysis showed that closer social proximity to givers was associated with a boost in observers’ well-being, while closer social proximity to receivers had a nonsignificant trend toward decreased well-being.

Importantly, social proximity to both givers and receivers predicted increased prosocial acts among observers, suggesting that acts of kindness can spread across the social networks within a workplace and increase employee well-being.”

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

Our time wrapped up program work beyond all expectations in Costa Rica. Reply if you want a copy of the trip report. We are safely in Bogotá, Colombia. Appreciate your prayers for a great onsite teaching event today.

As I continued reading the international research on generosity, these comments about the impact of “closer social proximity” surfaced as significant and led me back to this famous text of Paul regarding giving.

If we ask ourselves why he might use the example of the Macedonians in encouraging Corinthian giving, this research might hold the answer. Paul started his collection work in Galatia, moved to Ephesus and now mentions Macedonians.

A simple look at a map shows that he’s moving geographically closer. I never noticed this before. He likely used the Macedonians as examples as they were neighbors to Greeks compared to Ephesus or the region of Galatia.

So, when to help people grow in the grace of giving, we should tell stories of those they know or people close to them. The closer they are in social proximity to the givers, the more likely to respond with generous acts.

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.

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.

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.

“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.

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!