Every Generous Gift Has a Story

"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose." –Jim Elliot

In February of 2010 Sun Valley Indian School (SVIS) in Arizona, which has touched the lives of Navajo Nation young people since the late 1960’s, was facing a challenge to meet current bills and payroll. This was not the first time that finances were one of the topics at prayer meeting. But, it was the first time the administrator had asked staff if they could wait for their pay checks until donations from God’s people came in to alleviate the financial concerns.

For years, Albert Ernst had been a regular donor to the school, which is located midway between Gallup, New Mexico, and Flagstaff, Arizona. But due to his deteriorating health, he had written to SVIS explaining that although he could no longer give his monthly donation he would remember them in prayer.

Not long after that prayer meeting, Albert’s story and the story of SVIS came together in a new way. At age 96, Albert Ernst went to be with the Lord. Near the end of February the Indian School received a call from the Nazarene Foundation indicating that a check would be given to them shortly from Albert’s charitable gift annuities.

Sometime earlier over breakfast and a cup of coffee, Albert, a retired Oregon farmer, told the story behind his SVIS gifts to Mel McCullough, president of the Church of the Nazarene Foundation. Albert shared an inspiring account of how his nominal Christian life was transformed and energized by the music and testimonies of the youth from the school. Albert was moved profoundly by the teachers’ passion to provide quality education and to disciple these young people in the Christian faith. In the years that followed his initial visit to SVIS, Albert became a lay preacher, an enthusiastic and skilled worker on Work and Witness teams, and a generous donor to his local church, missions, and SVIS.

During his lifetime he funded 24 charitable gift annuities. The annuities paid him a generous income during his life. Now they provide funding for Nazarene Compassionate Ministries, Alabaster, and SVIS. His gift to SVIS invests in a ministry that changes the lives of students and enables them to acquire a quality education so they can return to their home areas to be leaders and Christlike disciples.

It was an inspired moment when Mel McCullough presented the six-figure check from the Nazarene Foundation to the administrator of SVIS, Mardell Knowles. She shared that the funds would not only enable the school to end the school year with its bills paid, but also complete construction, with the help of a Work and Witness team, on a boy’s dorm. She was passionate about the 25 students who were baptized recently in a cattle trough and by God’s grace are living for Christ in difficult circumstances.

Hope overflows as Albert Ernst’s life and legacy of generosity are celebrated. He was a salt of the earth Oregon farmer whose life was changed by those young Christians in Arizona those many years ago. Now, his story continues to write the story of transformed lives through his vision to create a legacy of blessing for future generations.

Note: this is one of a series of article for “Modeling Generosity,” a series where Holiness Today partners with the Church of the Nazarene Foundation and other entities. Learn how God’s people model generosity in their lives. Help inspire others to leave a lasting legacy by sending your stories, or the story of someone you know who lives generously, to info@nazarenefoundation.org.


Holiness Today, July/August 2011

 

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