This ebook by Howard Culbertson was originally published by what is now The Foundry for the Nazarene mission book series under ISBN number 083-411-4186. It is presented here in updated form.
My toolbox contains a very special screwdriver and pair of pliers. Work & Witness team members from Northeast Oklahoma gave them to me while we were working together on the Moncalieri church in northern Italy. I treasure those tools. They served me well in Europe and in the Caribbean. Every time I see them, I remember Richard and June McGuire from Tulsa, Oklahoma.
When we moved to Haiti, I soon discovered that what the McGuires did was not particularly unique. Work & Witness teams headed to a mission field often put tools and equipment in their suitcases. They'll use them on that job, then leave them for use on future construction projects.
These tools are emblematic of an important aspect of Nazarenes' balanced support of world evangelism. This one involves giving too. This time, it's not the giving of dollars or time. It's the giving of belongings.
Years ago, members of what is now Nazarene Missions International began tearing cotton bed sheets into strips and rolling them into bandages. Some Nazarene medical facilities around the world still need these cotton bandages which NMI members make from old sheets.
This giving of textile materials to world evangelism has mushroomed into shipments weighing in the thousands of pounds. In one recent year, 12 oceangoing containers, each carrying 4 to 6 tons of used clothing, were shipped to Nazarene mission fields. These containers went to Mozambique, Malawi, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Honduras.
On a smaller scale, Work and Witness teams that go to countries often empty their suitcases as they leave. When they go home, they take only the clothes they're wearing. What they leave behind goes to pastors and to needy families in the country where they've worked. United States churches getting new choir robes have sometimes sent their old choir robes for use by Nazarene choirs in other countries such as Haiti.
In Haiti, this giving of material goods has meant empty pill bottles for the clinic on the Bible College campus as well as local church dispensaries. We got lots of them (and used lots of them). Giving material goods means people collecting sample medicines from doctors and sending them to us (making certain they're not past expiration dates!). Medical supply companies wanting to do a good deed (while also getting a tax write-off!) willingly donate supplies and equipment. Alert Nazarenes have snatched up those supplies and equipment for Nazarene mission fields.
For Haiti and other countries this giving of material goods has meant musical instruments. My involvement with these began when we were back in the U.S. during the time we were transferring from Italy to Haiti. While we were in California on some speaking engagements Rev. Charles Brightup asked if we could use an accordion to take to Haiti. I never turn down anything. So we took that accordion to Haiti. There, I discovered that the accordion is the Haitian churches' primary musical instrument. So I gave Rev. Brightup's accordion to a church needing one. Then I began writing everyone we knew or could think of to ask for used accordions. That letter-writing campaign and subsequent followup netted us more than 250 used accordions. Those accordions would have had a retail value in excess of $75,000. What a tremendous addition to our balanced attack!
A lady in Oklahoma had bought an accordion 25 years before, hoping to learn to play. She never got around to it. When she recounted this story to me, I told her that 25 years earlier she just thought she was buying that accordion for herself. The Lord already had His eye on it for Haiti!
Haitian churches also use other instruments. Some have bands that play not only in church services but also in frequent parades. Prof. Harlow Hopkins at Olivet Nazarene University heard of Haiti's need for musical instruments. Going through ONU's band storage room, he found several unused but good band instruments which he shipped to Haiti.
As I've spoken to Nazarenes about Haiti's need for musical instruments, people have given me not only accordions but also:
For years my mother was my volunteer "instrument packer." In one two-year period she prepared more than 250 parcels of musical instruments for shipment to Florida. From there, Missionary Flights International took them to Port-au-Prince on one of their weekly flights. The retail value of all those donated instruments? Over $25,000.
At Enid (Oklahoma) First Church, then-pastor Jim Cooper rejoiced with his people at the end of one of their Faith Promise Convention weekends. They had pledged nearly $30,000. That weekend they had also given an accordion, two trumpets, and a guitar. In the evening service the Faith Promise thermometer on the platform showing the amount of money pledged that weekend also had those musical instruments grouped around it.
Some years ago Larry and Martha Wilson went to Haiti as Specialized Assignment personnel. One of their prayers as they held some deputation services before leaving was for money to purchase a four-wheel-drive vehicle in Haiti. As they came down to their last service, their hopes for a jeep began to fade. They hadn't raised nearly enough money. Without a miracle in that last service they were going to fall far short. Undaunted, Larry and Martha committed to the Lord what seemed an insurmountable hurdle.
After that last service in New England a couple approached them. They asked if the Wilsons needed a jeep. This couple had a nearly-new one. During the service they had felt impressed to offer it to Larry and Martha as a gift. Praising the Lord, Larry and Martha took the keys and drove the jeep to Florida for shipment to Haiti.
Through the years, other cars have been given to Nazarene World Missions as part of estate settlements. Even real estate has been given for world evangelism. Naturally, these kinds of gifts may eventually be sold to get money to plow into evangelism. They originally came as possessions, however, and not as cash. What a help they have been in carrying on Kingdom work of helping the blind to see, cleansing the lepers, and preaching the gospel to the poor.
Returning to Italy after our first furlough, we took with us a used photocopier. Colorado Springs Trinity Church had given it to us. During our second term of service that SCM copier made copies for the Italy District, for the Italian literature ministry, and for the Florence local church. We didn't have the money to buy one. Through the generosity of a local church, the Lord gave us that one.
That copier was like most machines. It would occasionally break down. Parts for it were not available in Italy. What we needed then was not cash, but parts. Stepping in to find and send us those parts free of charge was a Nazarene family in Salem, Oregon. In one sense, therefore, our copier had come with a warranty covering parts-although we didn't know it at the time. The work of the Kingdom in Italy continued to advance because of the multi-channeled giving of Nazarenes in North America.
Caribbean Regional Director James Hudson once led a drive to get wedding dresses for Haiti. People from all across the United States emptied cedar chests. The reason?
Well, when people get converted in Haiti, one of the things they do in straightening up their lives is to get legally married. Churches often plan mass wedding ceremonies on the same day as a baptismal service. In Dr. Hudson's special drive, more than 100 used wedding dresses went to Haiti for new converts' weddings. Many of these are now hanging in closets at district offices across Haiti. They'll be loaned out again and again to local churches. During our last furlough, I got several more wedding dresses given to me by people who had heard of Haiti's need for them. We didn't keep good calculations, but I'm sure the value of the wedding dresses sent to Haiti would be in the thousands of dollars. They've been a significant addition to our balanced attack.
Five years after the Texas merger that formed the Church of the Nazarene, the Southern California District began a box work program. The idea was to ship boxes of personal supplies to missionary families. Headed by Mrs. Paul Bresee, this idea was officially sanctioned on a denominational level in 1921 by the group that would eventually become Nazarene Missions International.
About 15 years ago, to better personalize our missions program, box work was expanded into Links. Those letters used to stand for "Loving, Interested Nazarenes, Knowing and Sharing." Because that acronym doesn't translate into other languages, it's just "Links" now. For two years at a time the general NMI office assigns missionaries to a district. For many churches, Links has meant a chance to lovingly pick out a few things at the store and send them overseas to a missionary family. Some of our children's biggest thrills come in opening parcels sent by people we had never personally met. Through Links we've made a lot of friends we've not yet seen.
All these kinds of gifts -- which are tax-deductible as charitable giving in the United States -- increase the effectiveness of World Evangelism Fund dollars. Before packing up and shipping anything, however, you should write or talk to the global NMI office or to the missionaries on the field. Customs regulations in some countries make it impossible for people there to receive parcels. In other countries, high fees make it impractical. You don't want to cost the missionary more trouble and expense than the item is worth. So check first.
Our balanced attack includes more than money. Each year it also gets thousands of dollars of supplies and equipment shipped to mission fields. . . . [ continue reading ]
-- Howard Culbertson
| Is it possible to do even more? . . . more ] |
ebooks:
Alfredo Del
Rosso, an Italian captivated by a vision God's
Bulgarian tapestry Mr.
Missionary, I have a question The Kingdom
strikes back: Signs of the Messiah at work in Haiti
Paul McGrady, Mr. Evangelism
Pasta, pizza and Pinocchio
Jonah, the reluctant missionary
Rookie Notebook: Our first nine months as missionaries in Italy
Other books and articles
10% Giving explanation
Alabaster offering World
Evangelism Broadcast offering publicity
Links missionaries
Medical Plan giving
10/40
Window explanation and map Seeking God's
will? Afrfican martyr's commitment
Mission trip fundraising
Ten ways to ruin your mission trip
Nazarene Missions International resources