Light the Way Testimonies – Men of Valor

In October, at our Tennessee Light The Way event we provided $20 bills to event attendees and challenged them to give the money away and share their stories of generosity. The beauty of this is how God moves in the most unexpected ways.

Below you’ll find the story of a man who serves with an organization that ministers to men just released from prison. He took this exercise of generosity and challenged his own group to go live generously with the funds provided. Continue reading for his story and the testimonies of those who gave freely.

At the recent Signatry “Generosity” luncheon (on Oct.30) I was chosen to stand at the end of the presentation, and then accept an envelope from the table host with $200 cash and a $1,000 voucher for a grant recipient of my choice. The one person standing at each table in the room was then instructed to distribute the $200 by giving one $20 bill to each of the 10 people at my table. Everyone was then asked to “experience the gift of generosity” by giving the $20 to some random person that was not expecting it and record the person’s reaction and report back to the Signatry.

However, the reason I was chosen to stand and receive this generosity was because the others at our table had just left the lunch early and there were only 2 left at the table, with the other person being the table host! So, there was no one to give the $20 bill to!!!

So I did follow up and create a donor advised fund and asked for the $1,000 to be forwarded to Men of Valor. But here is what happened to the $200.

I am on staff with Men of Valor and knew that we had a class of 10 men that had just been released from prison. So, I attended the next class and explained to these 10 men how I had been to a luncheon on generosity and how I had received the $200. I then gave each of them a $20 bill and challenged them in the same way, record the reaction and return that in writing to me.

Here are the responses and testimonies from these 10 men, that are so typically from backgrounds of few blessings, and for sure were blessed by this experience. I pray that you also will be blessed by knowing what happened from that day at Table 28!

Thank you for such a cool idea to demonstrate generosity and for the blessings that were passed on to so many, including me!

– David Miller