Our family’s April share was listed as $0 from referrals, so we sent our full $400+ regular share equivalent to special prayer needs instead. We love paying it forward. It allowed us to send about $40 to 10 different families who had special prayer needs this month, meaning almost everyone on our list received something from us. We were able to provide extra help to families in 9 different states (twice to Georgia), with needs ranging from pregnancies that started before membership to extensive dental work. There was even one that had a cancer need which went over the $250,000 limit per need for the regular membership and he wasn’t a part of Save to Share. The full need over and above the $250k would have been shared if that member was also part of Save to Share. Since he wasn’t, the extra bills then gets listed as a Special Prayer Need.
Side note: I STRONGLY recommend being a part of Save to Share for that very reason. Being part of S2S jus means you put a little money (depending on membership type) in your own savings account and only send it out when called upon. It’s a very inexpensive way to provide financial protection against those super scary big needs like cancer or heart attacks. We did not spend our entire Save to Share allotment last year, and looks like we probably won’t this year either at the rate its going.
Do members have to give to Special Prayer Needs? No. But I hope you will. These are offered as opportunities for extra giving. Some people just can’t, they are pinched as it is. Others can give generously. All of it is needed and useful, and all of it touches another family in a very direct way. Sometimes it’s easy to think we aren’t making a difference in the world, or wonder how we could make enough of a difference to matter. When you send a check to a family who is facing a need which burdens them, you are sending relief, hope and support. You are sending a message that there are Christians out there who are thinking of them, praying for them, and walking with them in their need. Even if you just send $5, that message still counts. It means they were thought about, prayed for, and supported. And sometimes that can be the very thing they needed to take another step forward. You can send your gift direct to the family or direct to Samaritan with designation to a family on your list (or don’t designate and let Samaritan decide). It’s tax deductible if you send it through Samaritan. That matters to some, others don’t care about the deduction.
If you were part of the reason we could send our full share this month to special prayer needs, I again say thank you for listing me as your referral. It serves a real need and I love knowing that we can help.