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Let’s Make a Deal
By Bishop Todd McGregor
Have you ever bought something you weren’t looking for? Something that caught your attention and you decided to buy it? Upon returning to the USA, Patsy and I realized our home was missing a few essential items, and one of them was an office desk for me. Our online search resulted not only in a used desk, but a lovely King’s chair. It looked like an antique bishop’s chair, nine feet tall and three feet wide. We both looked at it and Patsy spoke first. She said she had always wanted a bishop’s chair. That was a new thought for me, but I liked the idea of having the King’s chair for our living room.
We called the owners and made arrangements to look at it. After arriving at their house, we began to share with them about our lives as missionaries serving oversees in Madagascar for thirty years, and that Patsy was now working at St. Mary’s. Before too long the owner suggested, "Let's make a deal." I’m always up for deals! He proposed that instead of us paying $300 for this antique, we should to pay it forward and give the money to St. Mary’s. Boy, did we like that deal! We were able to give money to our church and receive a wonderful bishop’s chair. Paying it forward seemed to be a new idea, but as I pondered this, it really wasn’t so new after all.
 Patsy and I have seen similarities of this kind of giving throughout the Lord’s ministry. When we first arrived in Madagascar people gave money towards starting up health clinics to provide basic medical needs for the Malagasy in rural areas. People also gave towards evangelizing, purchasing land, and building many churches, including a few cathedrals, in order for the Malagasy to be nurtured in the Christian faith. Others gave towards building dorms and schools in both Madagascar and Kenya to provide educational opportunities for hundreds of Christian students. Even more giving was directed towards economic projects in various parishes to help make the Malagasy people become more sustainable partners. In each case people gave to the mission of the church in order for Malagasy and Kenyans to be blessed. Indeed, hundreds of thousands of people have been blessed by medical attention, spiritual centers for worship, women’s training, places for children to learn, learning small business principles, and financial security for the Diocese of Toliara. All this has been done as a result of generous people giving and paying it forward.
In recent years with the creation of the Diocese of Toliara, which itself was no small endeavor, supporters gave towards our most ambitious undertaking to date, launching the Bishop Todd and Rev. Patsy McGregor Diocese of Toliara Endowment. Our goal was to raise $1,000,000. At present, we have raised a little over $500,000 from individuals, churches and foundations. Praise the Lord! These funds have come through a variety of means, such as personal matching donations, pledges, and estate giving. One couple challenged their friends to give and they would match the giving. Another couple said they would match what family members gave, while another couple said they would match what their church members gave. Yet another couple requested gifts toward the endowment for their 50th anniversary. There have been so many creative ways of giving towards the endowment!
May I suggest to you, “let’s make a deal.” God is doing something incredible in the lives of the Malagasy, and Patsy and I have committed ourselves in participating this personally because it’s a great investment which has perpetual implications in the lives of many Malagasy. I want you to consider how you can be a part of this deal. Spend time with the Lord praying and asking Him how much you should give towards this. Then do what He says.
Let this season of Christmas be a season of giving!
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