Luke 7:13 Bracelets

Early October, at the closing of a Thursday service, Pastor Younger passed out 20 bracelets to each person in attendance. The goal was to sell these bracelets for $5 to raise money for Project Compassion. Reluctantly, I took the bracelets. It didn’t seem like a good idea to be selling these cheap bracelets for such a steep price. Seriously, $5 for one of these bracelets is a total rip off. I understand $1 and even $2 but $5? Wow. I would never buy it for $5. Who is going to buy it for $5? This felt like an impossible task. I was honestly a bit unsettled at first, but praise God! He gave me a different perspective. I was missing the whole point. It wasn’t about the value of the bracelet. It was about contributing to Project Compassion. We were simply using the bracelet as a means to ask people for donations. So instead of selling the bracelets, we decided to give them as a thank you for anyone who donated $5 or more to Project Compassion.

Pastor Younger was a champ at giving away his bracelets. A couple weeks into this project, he was already out of his 20 bracelets and asked me for some of mine. However, many of us were not as successful. If you weren’t in an environment where you had the opportunity to talk about Project Compassion, it was hard to receive donations and give away bracelets.

I learned that whether or not you have many opportunities, it takes boldness, passion, and trust to talk to people about God’s heart. I think that is one of the biggest reasons as to why Pastor Younger was so successful in giving away his bracelets. When you talk to him about Project Compassion you can see that he is excited about what we’re doing and invested in it. He is not afraid to talk to people about it and creates opportunities in which he can ask people to donate. And I believe that he is able to have these qualities because he trusts that God is in control. I hope to gain more boldness and passion as my trust in God grows.

Although there were many bracelets left, God still provided and is continuing to do so. We raised around $700. WHOOHOO! And more money is still coming in, as people have yet to bring in their bracelet profit and the remaining bracelets are continuing to be sold. Our goal was to raise $1,000 with this little project but it looks like we may end up raising more. Thank you Jesus!