Give to Gain

Happy International Women’s Day!

"I love generosity. I’ve been blessed to have been on the receiving end of many people’s generosity as I’ve lived life and this has encouraged me in generosity. The International Women Day theme is Give to Gain. I give to bless others but it is absolutely true that when we give we often gain more than we give.

"In 2024 I was blessed to be invited on a Tearfund Church leaders trip to Uganda, in the northern region of Karamoja one of the poorest communities in the world. Tearfund are an amazing charity that work with local churches and organisations in more than 50 countries across the world.

"It was on this trip that I met eight women who really inspired me by their giving. Their church community had only begun to use Tearfund’s bible studies for about 5-8 months and already their community had seen much transformation. As they began to recognise the resources that God had given them they had begun to grow crops. However, water (or lack of it) was a big issue. Most of the time they experienced drought, but when the rains came, this could cause flooding, but they could not use it. Getting water for this community usually involved long walks of 3km.

"These eight women, knew that the rains would come eventually and so they decided to dig a pond. But in order to dig, they had to eat, they were not allowed to dig without having breakfast. So out of their limited resources, these women committed to paying for breakfast every day that they would dig. They gave of their little for the communities gain. And they dug. When we were there the pond had been completed and they were waiting for rain. When the rains came they would of course also benefit, but what a gift. Give to eat breakfast in order to dig and gain a pond to catch the hoped and prayed for water.

"These women demonstrated active participation in solving their community problems, when they gave they raised up many more than themselves. In many of these church communities we visited, women were at the fore of leading their communities in faith and hope to become all that God had called them to be. This was a beautiful work of multiplication. They inspired their community, they inspired the local Tearfund leaders and they inspired me. So I wonder, what can you give to gain?"

Revd Lesley Currie is the Dean of Women in Ministry