Missional Generosity
The following interview between Orchard Alliance (OA) and Jim* was conducted on April 9, 2024. Jim and his beloved wife, Margaret*, who passed unexpectedly in late 2023, had experienced great joy and fulfillment in their support of several ministries through The Christian and Missionary Alliance (The Alliance) and other Kingdom-building causes. Through their ongoing generosity, gospel access has been—and continues to be—extended to those who have yet to experience Jesus’ loving embrace.
Jim recently partnered with Orchard Alliance to designate a portion of Margaret’s estate to the Alliance’s Great Commission Fund, which will extend gospel presence into some of the remaining unreached corners of the world.
*names changed
OA: Jim, when we first heard about you and Margaret, it was in the context of joyous generosity. After having spoken with several leaders at The Alliance, it became clear to us that the two of you have experienced a deep sense of joy and fulfillment through missional generosity—which ignited in the two of you an abiding passion for Kingdom work that drives many of your decisions. So today, we would like to hear how these passions solidified in your life together, and some of the things that stand out as pivotal moments in that journey of generosity.
Jim: In our married life here, we both came to the realization that giving is a joy, and you can’t out-give God. If the Spirit is alive in you and you’re paying attention, it is a true joy to give. It’s a joy to be involved in Kingdom work and meet needs, not only to do the work of the Father but also to be directly involved with people who have been called to carry out His plans. We are, through God’s grace, able to bear with these sent ones and see the joy in the extension of Christ’s Kingdom.
It’s a joy to be involved in Kingdom work and meet needs, not only to do the work of the Father but also to be directly involved with people who have been called to carry out His plans.
Scripture tells us that every time a soul is saved, there’s rejoicing in heaven; but through my study of the Scriptures, I have never heard about joy in heaven over getting a newer car or a bigger house, going on a cruise, or anything like that. I’m not saying for a moment that people of means can’t enjoy those things in the proper context and the proper ratio; but for Margaret and me, we really enjoyed seeing that money work in the Kingdom.
OA: With so many good causes out there worthy of support, how do you decide which ones to make the objects of your generosity? And, in your case, which ones do you feel Margaret would have liked to continue supporting after she passed?
Jim: I think it was Al Mohler from the Southern Baptist Seminary whose mantra was, “Do your giving while you're living, so you’re knowing where it's going.” You can leave vast amounts to people or things that really don't have any Kingdom impact. I could see leaving things to people who needed help or, of course, something toward the legacy of your children—but not to put them on easy street or create opportunity for Satan to meddle in the largesse that comes from riches.
Do your giving while you're living, so you’re knowing where it's going.
Those things, overall, kind of drove us, and we had a pretty well-defined plan of how we wanted to go about carrying out God’s purposes through our giving. That, of course, was interrupted by Margaret’s passing, but she had taken care to settle some of those things prior to her death; so I'm excited about the Kingdom work that will move forward as a result—driven largely out of gratitude for all God has done for us and the realization that all we have is truly His (Psalm 124:10).
. . . we had a pretty well-defined plan of how we wanted to go about carrying out God’s purposes through our giving.
OA: What are some specific examples of Kingdom work through The Alliance that have ignited your passion to give?
Jim: One of the ones I think about is a Christian school in West Africa. People of the majority religion—which is often in opposition to Christianity—are beating down the doors to get their kids in a school that has a cross on its roof and preaches Jesus Christ. You marvel at that, and it’s because the school provides excellent education. The parents know that their children will be steeped in the gospel, and the Scripture will be used in a way to honor Christ in this school—and they don’t care! I thought, what an opportunity to have these children hear the truth—and who knows how many of them or their families the Spirit will quicken. Really, to be able to be involved in something like that, I don’t care whether you give five bucks or 5 million—it’s a joy.
I thought, what an opportunity to have these children hear the truth—and who knows how many of them or their families the Spirit will quicken.
Margaret and I have always been drawn to children, so supporting Children’s ministries has brought us great joy. We have also been drawn to camp ministries because camps represent a retreat from the stresses and anxieties of everyday life. We have gotten to know Alliance international workers who oversee Camp Lake Santani, a camp ministering to families trapped in poverty, conflict, and occult practices in the remote villages of Papua, Indonesia. We support another Alliance worker who is starting a camp ministry among those ravaged by war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. These are things that are worldwide in their scope and impact, and it’s a privilege for us to be a part of them.
OA: It sounds like you’ve also been able to maintain some good relationships with some of the Alliance international workers. How important are these relationships?
Jim: One of the things that personalizes our involvement and keeps it from becoming organizational or institutional is maintaining relationships with front-line workers. After a while, when you’re writing a check, it’s easy to forget what the work is all about. It's about the individual soul. And even if we can’t always be the ones doing the actual soul-saving, we are involved in the first-century Church’s tasking to take the gospel to the world. Through our relationships with front-line Alliance workers, we have had greater opportunity to hear and understand what’s going on. That brings a level of personalization that shows the depth of Christ’s love for those who cry out to Him. These interactions make our involvement much more meaningful and real when I’m sitting in the mountains of Virginia fully attuned to what’s unfolding in Guinea, Indonesia, Uzbekistan, or Bosnia.
One of the things that personalizes our involvement and keeps it from becoming organizational or institutional is maintaining relationships with front-line workers. After a while, when you’re writing a check, it’s easy to forget what the work is all about. It's about the individual soul.
OA: You had mentioned that Orchard Alliance has made it easier for you to contribute in ways that align with your hearts. Can you tell us what it was about working with Orchard that made it more natural for you to direct funds to ministries that ignite your passion to give?
Jim: Well, I would have to answer that for Margaret because the assets at that time were under her control. I know that when we talked to a few organizations, it seemed far more impersonal. It was more like, “Hey, we're going to send you a hundred documents to fill out and read all this data and whatever, and then you can do this and do that and do whatever,” and it made us want to turn away and find something else.
Working with Orchard was so much easier. We worked together to honor the Kingdom as opposed to spending days or weeks crossing off this seemingly endless laundry list of things we otherwise would have had to do.
I remember the first time that Margaret chatted with Orchard. I was sitting in the room, and she said, “Here are the things we have.” She had a couple of homes she rented out that she was interested in deeding over to The Alliance. Having been a forty-year landlady, she was very seasoned. Working with Orchard was so much easier. We worked together to honor the Kingdom as opposed to spending days or weeks crossing off this seemingly endless laundry list of things we otherwise would have had to do.
Then, of course, the best thing was the end result: The money going to advance Christ’s Kingdom on earth.
I think in any endeavor you undertake, if you’re worth your salt, you’re going to want to work to make that process simpler and easier by teasing out the things that cause problems and shepherding people through that process. I could tell you that between the three or four organizations we chatted with, Orchard Alliance was “primo.” Here's what we need to do, here's how we can get it done. Clear and simple communication. Then, of course, the best thing was the end result: The money going to advance Christ’s Kingdom on earth. There may be a lot of people involved, but we’re all working toward the same Kingdom outcomes. And for Margaret and me, it helped us experience the true joy of missional generosity.