Birthday Present Becomes a Gift that Keeps Giving

Kara was a single mother of three. And no matter how difficult it was for her, she made tithing her first priority.

Kara says, “I had read Malachi 3:8 ‘Will a man rob God?’  I was not going to be guilty of robbing God.”

Then Kara met Sam and they married. Sam believed in helping the less fortunate, but he wasn’t on board when Kara suggested he start tithing as well.  

Sam says, "Do you realize how much money I would be giving? And I loved her answer. She said, ‘What do you think God would ask you to do?’”

For two years, Kara continued to tell Sam why he needed to tithe. Then in July 2014, Sam asked Kara what she wanted for her birthday. She responded by telling him she wanted an unusual gift.

Kara remembers, “I want a well and I want it to be for somebody that really needs clean water, that's what I want."

The very next day, they received a letter asking for help drilling a water well in Kenya. The people in the village had been praying for clean drinking water for several years.

Kara recalls, “And I looked at my husband and we both started to cry because we said, ‘This is our well.’”

Kara had been a CBN partner. And they were able to drill a well in that Kenyan village.

Kara shares, “The greatest command is to love your God with all your heart, soul, mind and body, but the second is like it.  Love your neighbor as yourself.  And that's what we were doing.”

During this time, the couple visited CBN. There, Sam made the decision to start tithing.

Sam remembers, “The more I was around the great Christian group that they were, the more I prayed about it, I realized that this was what God wanted us to be doing and that I was remiss in not doing it.”

A few months later, on Christmas day, the well became operational! Since then, the fresh water well has helped eliminate typhoid and malaria deaths in the Kenyan village.

Sam shares, “It's very humbling to realize that suddenly, you know, thousands of people that we'll never meet are benefitting every day of their lives because of what we did.”

They are members of the Council of 100. Together, they challenge others to be obedient, tithe and give gifts that help others.

Sam says, “The benefits that we feel we get from the tithing is far greater than money.”

Kara shares, “I want to say to the people who are afraid to give ‘God says 'try me and see if I won't open up the windows of heaven and pour upon you a blessing that you won't even be able to receive.' And I would challenge you, is to just go ahead and try him. I know that you won't be disappointed.”