Over the years Cheryl and I have been very involved with the Lutheran Women’s Missionary League (LWML). They are all about sharing Jesus with their words and actions. A big part of what they do is pool their resources to support mission work locally, statewide, nationally, and around the world. They have been doing this for 80 years.

A primary source of the funds they raise is through their “Mite Boxes.” The history of this can be found here: https://www.lwml.org/mites  Through their state and national conventions, they give away millions of dollars every year to support the mission of letting people know that Jesus died for their sins and rose again to give them victory over death.

The idea of the mite box is to put your loose change in it every day, then take it to church every month to add it to what others have collected. Many churches have a large mite box in their building somewhere so that people can deposit their mite offerings easily. We have such a box at Grace Lutheran in Denison, Texas.

I was standing in the narthex after Bible Class and before the late service one Sunday, greeting those coming and going. A first grader named Azaria ran up to me with a huge smile on her face. In her hands was the children’s mite box I had given her two weeks earlier. Our LWML society provided them for me to distribute during my children’s message on LWML Sunday.

I told the children about some of the mission projects LWML was currently supporting and said that they could help share the love of Jesus with others by giving their mites and offerings. It was not about how much they gave, but that they gave with a joyful heart.

And now here stood Azaria, her face beaming and a mite box crammed full of coins. She held it out to me, but instead of taking it from her, I led her to that large mite box in the narthex. I helped her open her box and empty it into the larger box, reminding her that those coins would help more people hear about Jesus and His love. Then I closed her mite box and gave it back to her.

Azaria’s eyes were huge at this point. She took her mite box back and said with obvious excitement in her voice, “You mean I get to do it again?” And off she went.

It is that kind of joyful giving that has enabled the LWML to fund so many mission projects around the world. Lord, give us all a heart like Azaria had that day!