Parishioners at the First United Methodist Church, located in Charlotte, North Carolina, regularly fill out their donation envelopes on a weekly basis every Sunday. But now the special message that one individual left written on the envelope to explain a donation inside has become the subject of an inspiring message that has gone viral.
One unidentified church goer recently left a crumpled envelope in the wooden donation plate that had a very special message written on it: “Please don’t be mad. I don’t have much. I’m homeless. God Bless.” The pastor of the church, Rev. Patrick Hamric, reveals that a very modest 18 cents are found inside that special envelope, a donation that he says is meant to inspire everyone with its spirit of generosity.
Rev. Hamric surmises that that modest amount of coins the homeless individual left inside the donation envelope may very well have been everything he had in his pocket. But the donation gives others the powerful message that it is not the value of the gift given, or the amount of any donation made to the church that matters, but the wonderful spirit of selflessness and generosity with which a gift is given.
The church’s pastor and members of the congregation are encouraging everyone to share the story about the incident which they posted on Facebook in order to give everyone who encounters it a lesson about the real spirit of giving.