By Ashley Wiehe
Director of Communications

In all thIngs I have shown you that by workIng hard in thIs way we must help the weak and remember the words of the lord Jesus, how he hImself saId, ‘It Is more blessed to gIve than to receIve.’” Acts 20:35 (ESV)

How do you share your faith with your family? Do you pray with your grandchildren? Do you attend church with your children? Do you read from your Bible with your family? Do you share your faith through giving?

In Worship Anew’s research with Barna Group, “Data shows many seniors have a strong desire to grow spiritually and feel responsible to pass on their faith,” but many don’t know how.

In a recent study through Indiana University’s Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, they found that people go about their daily lives giving, volunteering, serving on boards, and going on mission trips, but they are not sharing the way that they give—a way they demonstrate their faith—with their family.

“They might just send the check or just do the online transaction. They might just say, ‘I’m going out’ and they’re going to a board meeting or they’re going to the fundraising committee meeting,” said Dr. Tyrone Freeman, Glenn Family Chair in Philanthropy at the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. “Our research shows that you should pause for a moment and highlight it, bring it to the attention of your children and your grandchildren, saying, ‘Hey, did you know that our family regularly supports XYZ? And this is what that support looks like. We make a monthly donation of XYZ, or we always participate in their charity walk/run. We always show up for them whenever they ask for volunteers.”

Freeman goes on to explain that in order to pass on those values you should involve them in your giving—volunteer as a family or even have them sit down next to you while you process the online transaction or write the check.

“The biggest way to transfer (those values) is to start that conversation and make it visible for those generations so that now they can make those connections,” he said.

You might be hearing this and say, “Great, but I’m not giving much.”

“I think there’s a tendency to think of philanthropy, or charitable giving, as something that only the wealthy do. Or maybe, if I’m not wealthy, I shouldn’t be concerned because there’s other folks who are doing that,” Freeman said. “We know that people all across the socio-economic spectrum give. ... You don’t have to have a certain amount of money in order to give. All you need is the willingness to give, and that’s sufficient.”

Giving is an exercise of our faith, and sometimes it takes time to reach our exercise goals.

“There’s nothing wrong with starting with where you are,” Freeman said. “It’s like when you’re trying to develop a new habit, or you’re trying to lose weight, get started with a small step. Just go for a walk for 10 minutes. Don't worry about walking for an hour right now. Just get in the habit of walking for 10 minutes. And eventually, over time, you may work yourself up to an hour. I think it’s the same thing with giving. Start with what you can do right now, and then you always have opportunities to scale up and go up as time and resources allow in the future.”

In the Gospel of Mark, the Apostle writes of the “Widow’s Mite.” It was the smallest currency of the time. He tells of the woman who came to give her offering (two small coins) after others had thrown in large sums of money.

Imagine yourself in the church pew as the offering plate is passed. Imagine all you have to put in are two pennies. You may feel ashamed that this is all that you can give. But, what does Christ tell us? “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box” (Mark 12:43 ESV).

Jesus teaches us that giving is a matter of sacrifice, but that sacrifice differs from person to person. Two mites may be all that you have today. We are called to give generously, but also to give in trust that God will take care of our needs.

“Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:31-33 ESV).

We are called to care for those in our community—the sick, the poor, the orphans, the widows, the weak, and all who are in need. Giving is a way to build His kingdom, and by doing that, we prepare the next generation to do the same.

Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it. ~ Proverbs 22:6 (ESV)

GIVING THROUGH PRAYER

For Ruth Von Deylen, giving from her family always starts with prayer.

Von Deylen, of Fort Wayne, Ind., says that throughout her marriage to her late husband, Tom, everything that they did started with prayer. When he became sick, they stayed faithful in prayer. When her daughter received a cancer diagnosis, Ruth stayed faithful in prayer.

“My prayer life has been a lot with praying to God for helping us get through all these different situations,” she said. “We pray that God will help us get through this trial now, and hopefully that He knows all our prayers can be answered if it is His will.”

But as she has faced trials in her life, she knows that God is always there because she is continuing that conversation with Him. Because of that foundation of prayer, that practice has continued in all aspects of her life, especially in the ways that she gives.

For organizations that she loves, such as Worship Anew, everything starts with prayer.

When her husband was sick, they discovered Worship Anew since they were unable to go to church, and that love and support soon grew into volunteering by stuffing mailings and then monetary donations to the ministry. At every point, though, she is turning to God for guidance.

“We prayed about it for a couple of years and decided how much to give,” she said. “I’ve been doing that now for the past couple years and asking God to help me decide what to give.”

She continues in her prayer life daily—through the trials but through the faith and love that she has for God’s ministry.

GIVING THROUGH TIME

For Beth Myers, giving means making an investment in the ministry.

From the beginning of Worship Anew (then called Worship for Shut-Ins), Myers, of Fort Wayne, Ind., was and has been pivotal to the success of the ministry. She was there from the beginning as Worship for Shut-Ins was re-established at Holy Cross Lutheran Church in 1980.

“It was just a labor of love for everybody that was involved,” she said.

And since that time, she has continued to support the ministry through her time, talents, and treasures. Myers was the one who decorated the atrium during various seasons of the year—bringing a smile to all who came through the doors.

“It’s really quite easy when it has something to do with spreading the Good News of the Gospel and anything that is an extension of our beliefs or our church,” she said. “When you get involved with an organization like Worship Anew, and when you start to volunteer and take an interest in what’s going on, you begin to see readily the needs and how you can do even more.”

And while her health has not permitted to her to decorate or to come and volunteer in recent years, she is still a faithful supporter of the ministry.

“The money that is donated is certainly returned in so many ways with the growth of the ministry and just how much it means to people that are viewing and perhaps souls that are saved,” she said. “We don’t see the people oftentimes that we’re serving, but we know they’re there, and we hear from them. When you have a commitment to Christ, you just look for ways to spread the Gospel, and I think that’s what it’s all about.”

GIVING BECAUSE ‘GOD BLESSED US’

For Susan Tweeton, giving is so important in her life that she has ensured that it is something that has been passed down to her children and grandchildren.

For her, it’s a matter of passing on a gift that God has given to her.

The importance of giving began with her late husband, John, who instilled those values in their relationship and their family. As he became sick, Worship Anew became a “lifeline” for them, she explained. It was then that he saw the importance of supporting the ministry. After he died, Tweeton wanted to continue giving because of the blessings that she had seen in her life.

“I wanted to continue with the giving because I realized how much God had blessed me and was taking care of me,” said Tweeton, who lives in Sacramento, Calif. “I really depended on the service from Worship Anew. It kept me going through COVID, through my husband’s death, through the transition of leaving a place where we had lived for 18 years to moving here and getting to know a whole bunch of new people.”

Over the years of watching Worship Anew, she commented how she has felt like she has grown with the pastors as well as the choir children who returned to the program time and time again.

“Worship Anew has made a big difference in my life, and for that reason, I give now,” she said.

For Tweeton, this is just one of the many ways that she demonstrates her faith to her family. She ensures that they know the importance of faith in their lives, the importance of protecting the Lord’s Day, and the importance of returning the blessings bestowed upon them.

“You do it out of joy because of how God has blessed you,” she said.

"I hope my legacy is that [my grandchildren] live Christian lives—and some of them do. At Christmas, I always write them a letter and tell them how much I love being their grandmother. I try to end it with scripture or something to encourage them to live a life where they love Jesus. I don't overwhelm them, [but] I pray for them every single day."

A quote from the Barna research with Worship Anew, called “Aging Well.”

"I want [my family] to know that we serve God, we love God and we love them. If there's something that we can do to help them in any way with their life and leading them back to God, that's what we're there for."

A quote from the Barna research with Worship Anew, called “Aging Well.”