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THE K I NG ' S BUS I NESS
February, 1935
The MINISRTY ofaMissionary Dollar How a Ten Dollar Donation, with the blessing of God upon it, has been increased by the gifts of God’s stewards to more than $17,000.00 in a few months A n a f t e r n o o n in California in late July! The warm
Thinking over this experience, Mr. Lucy said to him self : “ I could not disregard that letter. The sight o f that one-dollar bill told me two things: First, that some one was tremendously concerned about some project— that he was enough in earnest to entrust me with his currency in order to arrest my attention; and also that I might have the privi lege o f sharing in a noble effort then under way. I did not resent that letter. Instead, I felt grateful that some one had found such a unique means o f overcoming the universal tendency o f busy people to allow appeals for funds for worthy causes to go unheeded. “ Next day,” continued Mr.
rays o f a westering sun flooded a seventh floor office building where men and women, representing various de partments of the work o f a great institution, sat with bowed heads, engaged in prayer. A plan had been con ceived, an effort was about to be put forth, and in the spirit o f trust in God that had marked preceding days, these officials implored the guidance and blessing o f the Lord. The little group that prayed that day was sincere in its
desire to know God’s will, and to see His own fulfillment o f it. The choice o f the method by which He would work was left entirely in the Lord’s hands. I f He chose to pros per, in any measure, the plan that was in mindy all the glory would he His. Thus submission to the will of God— readiness to accept both cor rection and direction— preceded ac tion. * * * But what were the circumstances that had led to this point? The Bible Institute o f Los Angeles sore ly needed the provision o f the Lord for its temporal necessities. Finances at the Institute were at a very low ebb during this period— the summer o f 1934. It is true that many diffi cult problems already had been met, to the praise o f God’s grace— but there remained the need for suffi cient ready money to pay the meager salaries o f the faculty and business
Lucy, “ so strong was the memory o f that old hospital dollar that I began to search for the sender. It had been twelve years since I had re ceived his message, and I had to follow my man through three ad dresses before I finally found him. He remembered the letter well! In fact, he was still receiving contribu tions from persons whom he had ad dressed many years before. This gentleman had no objection to my sending a similar letter for the bene fit o f the Bible Institute; but he warned me that some recipients would misunderstand my motives, and that I would get some critical replies. “ ‘But,’ he said, ‘if you can stand such occasional reproof, you will also find a multitude o f hitherto un known f r i e n d s ” “ The friend o f the hospital had
A------------ -, N. J. September 30, 1934.
O. H oward L ocy Bible Institute of Los Angeles Dear Brother:
You surely hit upon a unique method of doing missionary work! and it really does workI We have been interested in B.I.O.L.A. for many years, and have been small contributors. But your little dollar constrains us to pin ours to it and send it back to work in the train ing of men and women to preach the gospel, on which the Lord has so gra ciously placed His mark of approval. I trust every dollar may return to you many fold—some, even a hundredfold. Yours in Christ Jesus our Lord, J. E. and E. A. W ------------- .
mailed 10,000 dollar bills in as many letters, and had re mailed them several times before the fund was raised.” “ Ten thousand dollar bills were out o f the question, as far as I was concerned, though the Institute had more than that number o f friends.” And then he added, “ I remembered that ‘one with God is a majority,’ and that, if this plan were o f Him, He was abundantly able to move upon the hearts and minds o f our friends— causing them both to understand and to respond. I realized, too, that if I did not have ten thousand dollars, I could start with ten, and I did. I drew the amount to be used for this purpose—$10.00— from my personal account, and sent forth these one-dollar bills which I called mission ary dollars." Within a few days, the original dollars came back with some two hundred others. Every dollar received was re mailed. [Continued on page 42]
staff, and to defray the inescapable expense o f student training. It was at such a time as this that a new course o f action presented itself. There came to the Business Manager o f the Bible Insti tute o f Los Angeles, Mr. O. Howard Lucy, a singular ex perience—a strong urging, a definite impression that if a certain line o f action were to be followed, blessing would result. Twelve years earlier, Mr. Lucy had received an unusual letter, one that he had never forgotten. It was a brief appeal to aid in the financing o f a hospital. There was nothing remarkable about the letter except its earnestness in pleading the cause of crippled children. It was the en closure— a large, old-fashioned one-dollar bill —that had made the letter outstanding. *In the simple meaning o f the word, a missionary is "one that is sent."
MANY GIFTS FROM MANY PEOPLE MAKE THE BURDEN LIGHT
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