A First Century Fund Drive For Foreign Relief

In addition to raising money through
food sales and the auction at the annual 
Virginia Mennonite Relief Sale, can we also
learn from the example of the early church?

Around the middle of the first century Paul's wrote instructions to the believers at Corinth urging them to raise much needed funds for foreign relief, this time for fellow believers experiencing a famine in Judea, some 800 miles away. Given the differences in modes of travel and communication, that would have been a far greater "distance" than the farthest location of any needy and displaced persons in our world today.

Here are some of Paul's instructions for that giving:

1. Set aside generous contributions on a regular basis. 

"On the first day of every week, each of you should set aside a portion of their income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will be needed."  (I Corinthians 16:2 Berean Study Bible)

2. Emulate the generous and joyous giving done by other believers.

And now, brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. In the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the Lord’s people. And they exceeded our expectations: They gave themselves first of all to the Lord, and then by the will of God also to us.    (II Corinthians 8:1-5 NIV)

3. Give out of a deep sense of Christ's love and compassion, the one who made himself poor for our sakes.

...since you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in the love we have kindled in you—see that you also excel in this grace of giving. I am not commanding you, but I want to test the sincerity of your love by comparing it with the earnestness of others. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.  (II Corinthians 8:7-9 NIV)

4. Give eagerly and willingly, based on all of the blessings you have been given.

Last year you were the first not only to give but also to have the desire to do so. Now finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it, according to your means. For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what one does not have.   (II Corinthians 8:10-12 NIV)

5. Give not as an act of charity, but as an intentional distribution of wealth that results in greater equity and equality. 

Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality. At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. The goal is equality, as it is written: “The one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little.”  (II Corinthians 8:13-15 NIV)

6. Give through trusted and accountable persons and groups whose responsibility it is to see that your giving goes to those for whom it is intended.

So we urged Titus, just as he had earlier made a beginning, to bring also to completion this act of grace on your part... For Titus not only welcomed our appeal, but he is coming to you with much enthusiasm and on his own initiative. And we are sending along with him the brother who is praised by all the churches for his service to the gospel. What is more, he was chosen by the churches to accompany us as we carry the offering, which we administer in order to honor the Lord himself and to show our eagerness to help. We want to avoid any criticism of the way we administer this liberal gift. For we are taking pains to do what is right, not only in the eyes of the Lord but also in the eyes of others.   (II Corinthians 8:6,17-21 NIV)

These God-inspired instructions have relevance for us today.

Four years ago an SOS (Sharing Our Surplus) Committee was formed to help the fall Virginia Mennonite Relief Sale raise additional funds for world relief through having a donation table for cash, check or credit card contributions. The proceeds were to augment funds the Relief Sale raises each year for Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) through auction and food sales, with all of the SOS proceeds going directly MCC for refugee relief needs.

In the years since, a total of over $100,000 has been raised through this effort, and last year's SOS receipts enabled the total Relief Sale's giving to MCC to exceed all previous years, in spite of there not being the usual onsite auction and food sales at the Rockingham County Fairgrounds in 2020.

In light of ongoing and ever more pressing needs, this year's SOS effort hopes to raise even more funds to forward to Mennonite Central Committee, much in the same way as liberal and "cheerful" fundraising for foreign relief was done by the believers in the first century. The Greek word for cheerful, by the way, is hilaron, the root of the English word "hilarious," described as follows:

There is no need for me to write to you about this, for I know your eagerness to help. 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. As it is written:

'They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor;

    their righteousness endures forever.'

Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. 11 You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving 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!  (selected verses from II Corinthians 9 NIV)