By Pr. Rhoda Klein Miller
Nitza Salazar was the Children’s Ministry Director in Washington state when she encountered a mother with a special request. “My son Elias would like to play Joseph in the church Christmas pageant” the lady petitioned. “That shouldn’t be a problem” she thought until she discovered the hurdle facing this aspiring actor was that he had Down’s Syndrome so other boys were always cast to play the part. Seeing the big picture, Nitza was inspired to develop a nativity play where Eilas could be Joseph and the entire production would offer opportunities to other children with special needs to be in the spotlight. Word spread quickly about the vision to help make these kids dreams of shining on stage come true with individuals and businesses in the community offering their support. A church member was very eager to lend her creative skills and insisted on helping with decoration or staging but most of the details had been taken care of. Then someone on the team pointed out they needed donation buckets to help collect funds if they wanted to repeat the program next year. Nitza went back to the church member and asked if she could turn a couple buckets into drums to match the drummer boy theme. Delighted that she could put her creative stamp on the production, the church member shared why she was feeling overjoyed with her Bible study group that evening. One of the group participants was on home arrest and wore an ankle monitor. Wanting to contribute to this noble cause he begged her to allow him to make the bucket drums. At first she didn’t want to give up the task but he was so persistent she conceded. Little did she know that this gentleman did not have a dime to his name and was struggling to find employment as an ex-con. In order to accomplish his mission, he would borrow a sharpie and write on discarded cardboard an appeal for money as he spent hours at a busy downtown intersection. Once he collected enough dollars he purchased a bucket and craft materials. At the following week’s Bible study he brought the bucket beautifully transformed into a perfect drum with apparent care and detailed handiwork. The church member willing to share the blessing of helping then learnt what it took for him to complete the task. She gave him the cash to make a second bucket drum, understanding God had a different kind of role in mind for her in this ministry. The man who couldn’t even attend the event felt he could do something good for these special kids too. Those collection buckets have never run out of money for future programs since God saw to it everyone’s generosity would be blessed and multiplied. Where in your world do you see opportunities to be generous by uplifting others?