The Beauty of Generosity

Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth: At twenty-nine years of age, Beth had already taken on a lot of responsibility at her church. She was a youth leader, and she was involved with the worship ministry. She was pouring out herself all the time, and she was wishing that an older woman would pour into her life.

Beth: I was getting overwhelmed and just . . . dry.

Nancy: There was another woman at church about twenty years older than Beth, and so Beth asked this woman if they could get together. And in God’s Providence, just that day this other woman had heard a message on Revive Our Hearts about the importance of discipling relationships.

Nancy from “Adorned”: We are all to be involved in teaching the younger women what is good! The world is peddling—every day—what is not good, and we’re supposed to be teaching them by our example and then by our engagement in their lives.

Nancy: So the other woman said, “Yes, Lord!”

Beth: She said, “Absolutely! And in fact, I just heard this great podcast today, and I think you would really like it.” So that’s how I heard about Revive Our Hearts.

Nancy: During that time, Beth and this older woman at church had been going through the book I’ve written called Adorned, that went along with that radio series. And Beth has continued listening to Revive Our Hearts ever since.

Beth: It’s just such a refreshment for me, coming off of being a leader and pouring into others, to just sit and know that what Nancy’s saying is true and researched and prayed over. I just see God’s hand all over it. I’m blessed by it every single day!

Nancy: Not long after she started listening, we shared about a financial need that Revive Our Hearts was facing. Now that she’d been listening for several months, Beth wanted to help but she just didn’t see how she could.

Beth: I had already created my budget for the month, and I knew I had nothing extra. Money is tight for me, so when I make my budget it has to stick.

Nancy: Then Beth heard a Revive Our Hearts program where we shared a letter from a listener who had prayed and asked God to provide so she could give and be a part of meeting this need.

Woman on Revive Our Hearts: God is so creative. I got a call from a research company asking me to be a part of a food study. I basically went downtown to pick up $135 cash. God is so good. Today I donated it to Revive Our Hearts. God is so good!

I learned from my mom, whenever she wanted to give to missions, she always asked God to provide an extra job or a means for her to give. And guess what? He always did!

Nancy: That stood out to Beth. 

Beth: And so right then, I wrote on a sticky note in my office: “Pray about giving to Revive Our Hearts . . . and ask God to give me the means to give.”

Nancy: A couple days later, Beth got a call asking if she could work on a free-lance graphic design project.

Beth: That was out of the blue; I hadn’t spoken to them in several months. It was beautiful the way that God connected the means to give to Revive Our Hearts.

Nancy: Today we want to share with you some of the ways over the years, that God has shown His amazing power and moved through thousands of ordinary listeners—like Beth—to meet our financial needs and to put the beauty of generosity on display 

Dannah Gresh: This is a special edition of the Revive Our Hearts podcast for Giving Tuesday, November 28, 2023, with our host Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth.

Nancy: “Giving Tuesday” . . . I love that thought! I think it’s worth saying that the only reason any of us has a relationship with God at all is because of Someone’s generous gift. 

That’s right. John 3:16 makes that clear: “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son.”

So at its core, any giving that you and I do, any generosity we show, is really a snapshot of the gospel. Think about that as you go about this Giving Tuesday. 

You’ll probably be getting quite a few emails or texts or letters, because a lot of organizations are asking you to consider giving to them today, including us here at Revive Our Hearts. And whatever you give, whether it’s big or small, it’s all really just a tiny glimpse of the fact that God gave so richly and abundantly to us!

Over the years we’ve seen God use the giving of a wide variety of people in a wide variety of amounts and a wide variety of ways to provide for our needs here at Revive Our Hearts. In fact, one comes to mind; I don’t think I can ever forget this!

It was an anonymous package that arrived at our headquarters. Inside that package was a plastic bag. And inside that was—get this—a plastic butter dish. It was taped shut, so our team had to open the bag, open the butter dish, and inside the butter dish they found a handful of gold coins!

It turned out to be worth thousands of dollars! In fact, that gift came toward the end of the month, and the value of those gold coins was almost exactly what we needed to meet our expenses for that month . . . in a butter dish! Wow. And to this day, Dannah, we don’t know who that gift came from. 

Dannah: Wow, that’s amazing! That’s just how God meets our needs, isn’t it? So, so specifically like that. Nancy, what would you say to someone who’s thinking, I don’t have thousands of dollars worth of gold coins under my mattress (or even an extra butter dish) to give to Revive Our Hearts? 

Nancy: Well, it’s not the amount that matters to God. It’s the heart behind it and the fact that we’re asking Him, “Lord, what do You want me to give? Where do you want me to invest it? And how can the resources You’ve entrusted to me become a means of extending and expanding the work of Your kingdom here on this earth?” 

In fact, here’s the executive director of Revive Our Hearts, Martin Jones, commenting on that very thing.

Martin Jones: Part of my responsibility with Revive Our Hearts is to make sure that we are good stewards of the gifts that God entrusts to us through His people. As you’ve heard, those gifts come in all different shapes and sizes.

It’s often the ones that are small or are unusual that really catch my attention or tug at my heart. For example, we had a gift of $1 that came from a young girl who was giving out of her allowance and wanted to support the work of Revive Our Hearts. We’ve had many of those over the years. 

Or things that people have given, like a piece of property or a vehicle or different things like that—things they were able to sell and then invest those proceeds into what God is doing through Revive Our Hearts. So it really is not about the size of the gift. It’s what does God put on my heart, what does He put on your heart to invest? 

And then we have a responsibility to make sure we’re good stewards of those gifts that are entrusted to us, and that they’re used for God’s glory and for the advancement of His kingdom. 

Nancy: Again, that’s our executive director at Revive Our Hearts. One of the things I so appreciate about Martin is how committed he is to this ministry being good stewards of every dollar that the Lord sends our way to invest in this work.

Do you remember the account found in the gospels of Mark and Luke about that poverty stricken widow who gave two small coins? Here she was surrounded by people who were giving these massive amounts, and very visibly, who were kind of proud of it. But Jesus said that this woman gave more than anyone else because she had given all she had.

And Dannah, that woman is a picture to me of some of the unseen, unknown, not-high-wealth people who have given to support the ministry of Revive Our Hearts over these years.

Dannah: I love that! And today on Giving Tuesday we’re going to hear some of those “widow’s mite” stories, ways that ordinary people—even some children—have watched for God to provide for them (sometimes in creative ways), so that they could turn around and bless Revive Our Hearts.

Nancy: Yes, I think that butter dish story is pretty creative, but we’ve seen that happen in lots of different ways. So here at the beginning of this week, on Giving Tuesday, we’re asking the Lord to provide a total of $156,000. 

Now, maybe you’re wondering, What would that do? Those funds will be used for two specific projects: the first one is to help us produce and distribute daily, half-hour Revive Our Hearts podcasts in Portuguese, and the second will allow us to produce shorter podcasts in the language they speak in Cambodia, Khmer. 

I am so excited about this opportunity to get the message of freedom, fullness, and fruitfulness in Christ into the languages of women who live in Cambodia, Brazil, Portugal, and elsewhere around the world where those languages are spoken.

Dannah: And can I put that in perspective a little bit? If everyone listening right now gave just $1, we would easily pass that goal (talk about a widow’s mite!). But we’re going to need some women to give $1, some women to give $10, some women to give $100, some to give $1,000, some to give $10,000 for us to reach that goal, but every little bit helps! 

So, to make a donation, you can call us at 1-800-569-5959, or do it online at ReviveOurHearts.com. 

Nancy: I hope you’ll be a part of our Giving Tuesday goal to help us reach hungry-hearted, needy women in Cambodia and also in Portuguese-speaking countries of Brazil and Portugal. And speaking of Portuguese, I’d love for you to listen to this short testimony from Sarah. 

She left us this message a few years back, when Revive Our Hearts had just gone through a faith stretching time, financially speaking (kind of like the time we’re in right now). Sarah called us from Portugal where she and her family are missionaries.

Sarah: I started listening to Revive Our Hearts about ten years ago. At the time I was engaged, and Nancy was teaching a series on the Proverbs 31 woman. It was such a practical application to my life as I was preparing for marriage.

Well, fast-forward ten years. My husband and I now have two kids, and we’re missionaries in Portugal. The work here is wonderful as I invest in my family and in the people around me, but it can also be a bit draining.

There are days where I wish I had just the encouragement of a Christian friend to come by my side and to remind me of some of God’s truths. But I’ve got to say that many days at a quiet moment, as I’m folding laundry or cooking supper, I will turn on the Revive Our Hearts podcast, and the message will be exactly that.

It will be encouragement; it will sometimes bring conviction; it will remind me of God’s truth. 

So, though I’ve never met Nancy, I feel that through her books and through the podcasts that she has been that friend and encouragement to me—even an ocean away!

From time to time on the program I’ll hear about a financial need or hear how we can give toward the ministry. I started thinking that I was looking forward to each new podcast each day. I was anticipating it as much as I would anticipate the next episode in my favorite TV show! 

And I thought, How many online services do we have—like Netflix or iTunes—in which people benefit from the enjoyment of a television show or the enjoyment of music, and they gladly pay a fee for that?

And yet, for years, I’ve benefited in a much greater way spiritually from Revive Our Hearts . . . and I had never given anything. I had never paid for it. So I started to almost feel guilty, as though I was mooching off of the ministry. 

So I started talking to God about it, talked to my husband about it. My husband and I agreed: it was time that we needed to give something toward the ministry. Wouldn’t you know, that conversation happened at the very end of April?

Nancy (speaking on a podcast): For the last six months, donations have been lower than we projected, and that means that right now we’re facing . . .

Sarah: The first podcast in May, I turned it on and I heard about the dire financial need for the month of May.

Nancy (speaking on a podcast): So here at the outset of this month, I’d like to ask if you would pray with us about this important need. 

Sarah: And so, right then and there, I paused the podcast, picked up my phone, and made my first donation. And so to Nancy and the entire team at Revive Our Hearts, thank you. For years you have invested in me, and it was a privilege for me to finally invest in you!

Nancy: Wow, I love Sarah’s heart! She reminds me of what we read in 2 Corinthians 9:7, “God loves a cheerful giver,” and I think Sarah is definitely that. Well, it’s been so encouraging over these weeks to hear stories of how God provided so listeners could give.

For example, we heard from a young woman who’s serving in a children’s ministry in Brazil. She wrote and said, 

Revive Our Hearts has been a spiritual encouragement to me, especially this past year-and-a-half that I’ve been in Brazil.

In the states I had a few women whom I consider to be spiritual mothers, that I could go to and talk to about anything. But being fairly new here in Brazil, I don’t have that now. Revive Our Hearts has been that for me through this transition period.

When I heard about the need, I really wanted to be a part of it, but I didn’t know how I’d be able to give. Then I heard on the program the testimony of a woman who prayed that the Lord would give her a way to make some extra money so that she could give to Revive Our Hearts. I thought that was so cool!

I thought about that testimony the rest of the day and was hoping that something like that could happen to me—but I didn’t think it really would. Then the Lord surprised me! The very next day my mom contacted me and said that the company that I had worked for in high school (four years ago!) had missed one of my paychecks. They caught it, and they were now giving me the money that I had never received.

It was so crazy to me, and right away I thought, The Lord blessed me in this way in order to give to Revive Our Hearts. I’m excited to give back to a ministry that is having such a big impact on my spiritual growth and that of women, literally, around the world.

Nancy: And thank You, Lord, for providing for this young woman and for all of us, so we can give back to You. 

Another sweet sister named Heide lives in Germany. She’s part of a regular Skype call for Revive Our Hearts listeners in Europe. 

Well, Heide heard about the financial needs and didn’t know how she could give, so she also asked God to provide. Heide has a small business sewing handcrafted items and selling them online.

After she prayed for God to provide, she sold in one day four table runners that had previously not been selling well, and she used those proceeds to support Revive Our Hearts!

Dannah: Oh, I love that! You know, Nancy, that reminds me of one of our Revive Partners. Shelly supports Revive Our Hearts every month out of the proceeds of her home business, and she shared this testimony with us at a conference not too long ago.

Shelly Nissley: I’m Shelly Nissley, married to Phil, and we have five children. I was raised in a Christian family and my family moved to Canada as missionaries when I was ten. We also had foster children, so all-total there were like ten people in our house every day . . . a noisy, busy place!

And when I got married and moved to Pennsylvania, it was just silence all day long. I wondered, What was I doing here? But that’s when I found Nancy on the radio, and the truth she spoke really just resonated with me and gave me courage.

And also I had been preparing for marriage and was excited to be married. But just being on the other side of it and actually being married, her speaking into my life was a huge encouragement. Pretty soon after that I started wanting to give, and it was just a very small amount. I don’t even think it was monthly, it was just kind of sporadically.

But I had a desire in my heart to be able to give more and be more faithful in that. And so I kept praying and asking God for something I could do from home to make money. A couple of years later this business opportunity came along, and it grew beyond my wildest imaginations! And from that we were able to start to give more, and through that we decided to become ministry partners.

I feel like sometimes when you’re at home as a mom with five little children. . .they’re my greatest ministry and I love it! But sometimes it just becomes so “daily" and it’s like (sigh!), “It’s just here,” and, “What else am I doing?”

And so, when I get those letters and reports back from Nancy, I always feels like, “My dollars are working for the sake of the gospel in other ways that I can’t do right now because I’m at home.” That actually brings tears to my eyes because [tears fill her voice] that’s where my heart is, and I can see that investment happening in other places!

We’ve heard often that it doesn’t have to be a large amount that we’re giving, but just faithful giving. I think as a young person (I still consider myself a young mom). We’re investing in the future of our children and our girls and bringing women alongside us to be free and full and fruitful in Christ.

Dannah: Thanks, Shelly, for your investment in what God is doing through Revive Our Hearts. 

Now, I want you to hear this phone call Nancy had with a young man and a young lady. It’s such an encouragement to see that, even though their income is limited, God blessed them to be able to give. 

She had this conversation shortly after we had seen God provide in some really unusual ways, when the money was really tight for us here at Revive Our Hearts. Here’s Nancy.

Nancy: We received a number of really special notes and letters and emails from people sharing how God prompted them to give. One of the most special letters we received during this whole time was a handwritten note from a young man named Severt. He identified himself as being eleven years old. 

He told such a special story that we decided we wanted to talk to him and his twin sister, Elida, on the phone and have them share with us what prompted them to make this very special gift.

So, Severt and Elida are on the phone with their mom, Christine. 

Thank you all for having this conversation with me today.

Christine: We’re happy to be with you.

Severt and Elida: Yeah!

Nancy: Well, I understand that all of you listen to Revive Our Hearts. Is that correct? 

All: Yes.

Nancy: How do you listen to it?

Severt: Well, whenever we’re going to long appointments, like an hour or two hours away, we like to listen to them in the car while we’re driving.

Nancy: So you’re listening to the podcast?

Severt: Yeah, Mom has the app on her phone.

Nancy: Are there any particular things we’ve talked about on Revive Our Hearts that you have really enjoyed listening to or that you’re particularly interested in?

Severt: I like listening to the women’s testimonies, how it’s like some from Brazil and some from around the world. We also learned on Revive Our Hearts that instead of saying, “God bless you,” we say, “I love you,” whenever we sneeze.

Nancy: You got that from my husband, Robert, didn’t you?

Severt: Yes. (laughter)

Nancy: That's what we do in our house. Do you sometimes do that in your house now?

Severt: Yes, we always do it now, and I love it so much!

Nancy: Oh, that is fun. Now, do you remember, Severt, when you first heard that we had a special need?

Severt: Yes.

Nancy: What struck you as you listened to that?

Severt: Well, I love the ministry so much and I didn’t want you guys to cut anything off, so I wanted to get some money together and donate it to Revive Our Hearts.

Nancy: So you put your heads together and you came up with some really creative ideas! Can you tell me about one of the things you did to raise that money?

Elida: Well, I have a craft table at my dad’s office, and I get money for Revive Our Hearts there.

Nancy: So, a craft table. What do you do at that?

Elida: I make locker magnets and picture frames and coasters.

Nancy: So you made some of those things, and then did you sell them so you could have some money to give to Revive Our Hearts? 

Elida: Yes.

Nancy: Wow! I know there were some other ways that you raised money. What was another way?

Severt: Another was, I was working for my grandma to get some money for Revive Our Hearts.

Nancy: So you were helping your grandma out, and she gave you some money for that?

Severt: My other grandma gave me some money to go to Toys 'R Us, but I used that money instead to donate to Revive Our Hearts.

Nancy: So you could have gone and bought some toys with that money, but instead, you decided you wanted to donate to Revive Our Hearts.

Severt: Yes.

Nancy: Are you sorry you don’t have the toys?

Severt: Nope!

Nancy: Not at all? And, did I hear that you had, maybe like, some birthday or Christmas money?

Severt: Yes. We have some lifetime savings in our banks, and we just pulled some of that out, too, to give to Revive Our Hearts. Then we counted it up on the last day, and we got $154.

Nancy: $154! I was so amazed when I saw that, and I’m going, “How in the world did this happen?” But it happened because you wanted to be a part of this, and the Lord gave you some really creative ideas. I know the Lord gave your mom some creative ideas, too. Do you remember anything she did so she could be able to give to that need?

Severt: She was speaking at church for the women’s breakfast, I believe, and she got some money for that and just decided to donate that to Revive Our Hearts.

Nancy: So you saw her example. This was a whole family thing, it sounds like.

Severt: Yeah! 

Dannah: Ah, isn’t that fun? Now here’s what we’re hoping is going to happen. Maybe you’ve been listening today and the wheels in your head are turning. I hope you’ve been thinking about creative ways that you can give. Today is Giving Tuesday, after all! Again, here is the goal we’re hoping to achieve at the end of the day here at Revive Our Hearts.

Nancy: We’re trusting God to provide $156,000 by the end of the day today. The donations that come in between yesterday and today will help us fund the translation and production of Revive Our Hearts programs for listeners in Cambodia, Brazil, and Portugal.

Dannah: Now here’s what’s really special about making a gift today. We have a special group of people who have stepped up and will match every dollar you give, so your gift really makes a difference today. Also, when you request it with your donation, we’ll send you a copy of (Un)remarkable, Volume 2. 

Previously, it was only available as a digital download, but we actually have paper books now. This book contains the inspiring stories of ten ordinary women who made themselves available to the Lord and whom He used in some extraordinary ways. It’s just our way of thanking you for your donation here on Giving Tuesday.

Nancy: To make your gift, contact us at ReviveOurHearts.com/donate. Remember, your donation today will help us fund the effort to translate, produce, and distribute Revive Our Hearts episodes in Portuguese and the majority language in Cambodia—Khmer. 

Dannah: So head over to ReviveOurHearts.com/donate right now, or call us at 1-800-569-5959. Nancy?

Nancy: I want to close by sharing with you a passage of Scripture that’s been on my heart in relation to this whole wonderful season of generosity: 2 Corinthians chapter 9, the last paragraph, says: “He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness” (v. 10).

Now, that verse is just saying that if you want to give—if you want to be generous—God will provide for you to be able to be generous. Then He will multiply the fruit of your giving, and He will meet your needs as well. Verse 11 goes on to say, “You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God.”

And that surely has been the case. There’s a lot of thanksgiving going up to the Lord here at Revive Our Hearts in this season! 

For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God. By their approval of this service, they will glorify God because of your submission that comes from your confession of the gospel of Christ, and the generosity of your contribution for them and for all others while they long for you and pray for you, because of the surpassing grace of God upon you. (vv. 12–14)

It has been a grace of God, through so many of His people, that has enabled this ministry to receive that grace and then to give out that grace to others in the days and months ahead, through the continuation of our different outreaches around the world. 

We have to trust the Lord every day, every week, every month throughout the year for His continued provision. So, we don’t have excess. We’re still needing to trust the Lord for today’s provision. 

As I’ve said to our team, “We never want to be in a place as a ministry, or individually, where we don’t have to trust the Lord for our daily bread, where we don’t have to ask Him, ‘Lord, please supply our daily bread.’” And that’s a good place to be! That’s where we want to be moving forward.

So thank you, not only for your participation over this past season, but in the days ahead—as the Lord prompts. We’re going to continue using whatever the Lord provides to call women to freedom and fullness and fruitfulness in Christ!

And then, I love that final verse of 2 Corinthians 9, “When it’s all said and done, ‘Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!’” (v. 15). The greatest gift that we have all received—it’s inexpressible, indescribable—is the gift of His grace, the gift of His Son, the gift of a Savior, the gift of the gospel!

That’s the gift we have received, that the gift for which we give thanks, and that’s the gift that enables us together to continue being generous in sharing that message and that grace around the world!

Thank you so much for your participation, for your prayers, for your encouragement. And may Christ continue to be magnified and exalted as we share this Good News with others! 

Revive Our Hearts with Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth wants to help you display the beauty of generosity as you spread to others the freedom, fullness, and fruitfulness in Christ!

*Offers available only during the broadcast of the podcast season.