The Church That Gives Down to its Last Two Mites

By Cindy Butor & Rayann White

Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts, but a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents. Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything – all she had to live on.” -- Mark 12:41 – 44, NIV

In the parable of Jesus and the poor widow who gave her last two pennies, the Bible teaches us to give all of our possessions to God. Though this is a central tenet of Christianity – the giving of yourself to others and to God – few individuals truly exemplify this generosity. It is easy to get caught up in our own wants and needs, forgetting to listen to the counsel of God or to the suffering of others. However, the Community Christian Center of Hesperia, California, exemplifies this, caring deeply enough to give of itself, even when it has fallen on hard times.

The Community Christian Center does something truly unique: it follows the Bible’s precedent to give tithes by earmarking 10% of all its monthly collections to the Christian Appalachian Project (CAP). The church has been doing this since 2008 when CAP came to its attention through a series of serendipitous events.

Debi Salisbury, the church secretary and financial officer, was instructed to find an organization that served Appalachian Kentucky and Tennessee, where founder of the church Lee Mansker’s wife Joyce originated. After some researching, she discovered CAP and was impressed by how much the organization gives directly to service (instead of to overhead). Shortly after the church chose CAP as its tithing recipient, CAP was featured on Diane Sawyer’s “A Hidden America: Children of the Mountains.” That, Debi said in a recent phone interview, “cement[ed] it. [It was] God’s confirmation that we’d picked the right place.”

Since then, the church has given over $35,000 to CAP and plans to maintain their tithe in the future. “It’s just a blessing what you guys are doing and the area that you’re doing it in,” Debi said.

Even more remarkable than the center’s desire to set a tithe for CAP is their willingness to continue doing so even as their church has fallen onto hard times. Over the past year, the area has gone into a depression, and the church, along with its neighbors, has suffered. They currently lack a paid staff and lost their assistant pastor, who retired and moved out of state. Their small congregation of 40 – 50 people is mostly unemployed or on disability. “Our church has really, really struggled,” Debi said. For a community in such dire need of help themselves, it’s amazing that they will take the time to send donations to CAP, which helps individuals over 2,200 miles away.

The church, however, is hopeful that the hard times will begin to lessen. Fortunately, a group of energetic young adults has joined the church and begun a massive outreach campaign that has included fundraisers and coordinating youth groups. They are currently working tirelessly on a concert in late July that will include local Christian bands and have begun to bring the organization to social media, updating their website and Facebook page. Everyone is optimistic that these measures will bring the church back into the community spotlight and encourage new parishioners.

Regardless of the outcome of these events, Debi remains cheerful. “God has really blessed us that we’re able to make the rent, and we’re not in debt,” she says with a laugh. “There are a lot of churches in debt. At least we’re not in that bondage.”

CAP is thankful for the Community Christian Center’s continued wiliness to give, and their willingness to see themselves through this dark time with humor, compassion, and generosity. The church feels compelled to give, Debi confided, even in their leanest times. “It’s just so much better than what you would be able to do with the money,” she says. “You know, when I say we’re in a depression, [the people of Appalachia] have traditionally always had trouble. For us, it ebbs and flows, but there it’s constant.”

The Community Christian Center’s monthly tithe has helped thousands of people throughout Appalachia, providing needy families with food, rent assistance, home repairs, and the knowledge that they have not been forgotten. The church has also shown the world that, even in our darkest moments and deepest struggles, there is always time for generosity.