Secret Giver at XICF Retreat

Bill Brown   ...  Xiamen University
"But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you." Jesus, in Matthew 6:3,4  "你施舍的时候，不要叫左手知道右手所作的。要叫你施舍的事行在暗中，你父在暗中察看，必报答你。（有古卷作必在明处报答你） 马太福音6:3,4

Susan Marie has been hard at work pulling together the annual Xiamen International Christian Fellowship retreat, which this year will be held in a remote town (the very area ZhangzhouLin Yutang was born).

Our XICF numbers almost 200 some Sundays, with upwards of 50 children in the Awana Sunday School program.   And many of the adults are students from Africa studying at XIamen University on Scholarship, and could not afford even the minimal cost of the retreat this year, so XICF has given scholarships to make sure money alone does not deter them from joining in (unfortunately, I can't go because I have classes all day Saturday, and cannot change them!).

One family in XICF gave Sue 1,000 Yuan as an anonymous gift to help those who could not afford to attend the retreat.   But to our surprise, as Sue was finishing up some last minute paperwork for the retreat, she was that this family is only taking one room for 3 adults and 2 children!  So obviously they themselves are not burdened with too much money--or else they just choose to be very good stewards of what they have.

I wish I could share the names of this family, but they chose to give as Christ commanded, in secret--and their reward will come not from men but from our Father.

Thank you, secret giver, for being a blessing to many this coming weekend at XICF.  And thanks to all of those in XICF who, weekly, give of their time and skills, as well as their money, to make this fellowship such a special place.

Taste of Heaven  Yesterday, three women shared their experiences with us, and one noted that she had never attended such a fellowship anywhere else in the world, with so many people from so many countries worshipping together.  As she said, "XICF is a taste of heaven!"


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