Last year Bright Hope Ally Henry Pitman wrote to tell us about his experience redeeming a Bright Coin with his grandkids. We shared his story with you last spring and want to share Henry’s testimony again now. (Read to the end to find out why we felt so compelled to rerun this blog.)
Henry and Ruth Pitman are grandparents who recently launched a legacy of compassion and generosity with their grandchildren using a Bright Hope Coin. Below, Henry shares their story.
Henry and Ruth’s Story
Ruth and I have three grandkid families. All the kids are under 12. A week ago, I contacted each and asked if the older kids in each family would help me help others by putting together a family list from the Bright Hope catalog totaling $50 for each family – $150 total.
Each family spent several days thinking and talking about this and submitted their lists to me, which I have compiled and sent off to you [Bright Hope]. You will note that the “order” is all over the place. This reflects the input from seven kids and their varied concerns and interests. They took this decision making very seriously – more than I anticipated.
I found this such a tremendous blessing to have my grandkids provide me with their varied rationales for their choices. I plan on repeating this fairly regularly with them in a variety of ways in the future. Perhaps there are other grandparents who would find this a blessing too. Thanks for serving the Lord with the poorest of the poor.
A Word From Bright Hope:
Thanks for reading the Pitman’s story to the end. We are living through unprecedented times. More than ever before, it’s critical to teach children how to be compassionate, generous, and aware of their neighbor’s needs.
All of us at Bright Hope are parents, grandparents, or aunts and uncles—which means we all are invested in the lives of some pretty wonderful kids. We can relate with those who desire to give their children something special at Christmas, and like you, we want to disciple our children to be passionate followers of Jesus Christ.
The Bright Hope Coin gives you the opportunity to teach the kids in your life how to put generosity and compassion into action.
When you present a child with the opportunity to redeem the coin, you help them grow in compassion, gratitude, humility, and generosity. In addition, you provide them with a practical way to love their neighbor.
We don’t care about how many coins we “sell” this holiday season. However, we do care deeply about discipling the children entrusted to us and changing lives for the extreme poor with fully funded programs. Please consider giving a Bright Hope Coin to a special child this Christmas season.
We’d love to hear about your experience of giving a Bright Hope Coin. Please write to us at BrightHope@Brighthope.org.
You can launch a legacy of generosity and compassion in your family while helping those living in extreme poverty. Learn more about the Bright Hope Coin at www.BrightHope.org/coin.
Here’s What Others Are Saying
We received the Bright Hope Coin! It led to us sitting down with our kids for an hour talking about kids in need and what their lives are like. They all grabbed their money jars and wanted to contribute more than the value of the coin.
-Ryan F.
We used the Bright Hope Coin this weekend…a great idea, and our girls really enjoyed it! They were also happy to have something tangible to keep. They decided to use the certificate to help a new mother and even wanted to chip in some of their own money to buy a couple of chickens.
-Todd and Steph B.
As I was thinking about what to buy my friends and family for Christmas this year…the coins seemed like the perfect gift. I could give them the privilege of truly changing some of the neediest people in the world’s lives.
-Meggie M.
Overall we feel the whole experience was a positive one and will bring future fruit in our niece’s life and my sister’s! She [our niece] had never been exposed to the idea of extreme poverty, so we are excited to see where this will lead.
-Terrie and Gene B.
