The Gift that Keeps Giving

Miranda Rea knows how to keep a good gift going. She and a friend recently decided to raise money for a clubhouse in their backyard by selling brownies. But somewhere along the way, a lesson they learned during Vacation Bible School took them in a different direction.

During Vacation Bible School at Hinckley First UMC, children not only had a wild ride through God’s word, but also were invited to take the ranch theme to heart and give the gift of a cow to a family in need. The gifts were to go to Heifer International, and the organizers ambitiously hoped to have enough for a heifer by the end of the week. The organizers explained that the cow’s milk allows a family in need to be healthy and maybe even sell some, creating income for that family and the entire community. It’s a gift that keeps on giving.

Each day at Vacation Bible School, the children brought the change they had collected in their piggy banks and the carefully saved milk money they had put away. One child even said that her five dollar bill was the first five she had ever had in her life, and she had saved for years, but she was giving it for a heifer. By the end of the week, not only had the children given enough for one cow, but they had given enough for TWO cows, TWO chickens and some bees. That was over $1200! Gifts kept pouring in through the end of the summer. That’s where Miranda and her friend come in.

The two girls set up a bake shop, making those brownies and doing other odd jobs to raise money. During the bake sale, Miranda and her friend had a discussion about what to do with the money. They decided that they should give at least some of it to Heifer, as a way to keep that VBS gift going. Afterwards that “some” was raised to include almost all of what they made on that bake sale. On Sunday, August 12, they turned in $160.00 to the financial secretary at Hinckley First UMC, with special instructions that it go towards helping give a heifer to a family in need. Their gift pushed the total collected near the $1500 mark, allowing the church to donate THREE cows to three families in need. What they learned during Vacation Bible School allowed those young girls to make a difference that keeps on giving.