Last night we launched a joint venture between RiverChurch Chattanooga, Cadence Coffee, and a handful of nonprofits that are connected to the church and the shop. We are actively pursuing the purchase of 706 Market Street, which will be the home of The Oasis Center. You can go learn more about The Oasis Center here.
Now, I have no shame in telling you that I find no thrill at all in asking people to give money. I’d rather hit my head on a brick wall over and over and over. But the vision for The Oasis Center has been steeping for a long time and by virtue of too many “coincidences” to go into here, it is abundantly clear that we are to . . . go for it. So last night I stood in a room of RiverChurch family members, friends and acquaintances and with a few other folks cast the vision and, hopefully not as awkwardly as it felt, asked those present to give.
Afterwards, Kristia and I stood by the door, and a table with Behind the Bar Books and a basket for anyone wanting to leave a donation to The Oasis Center. Almost everyone there walked past and offered words of encouragement and the commitment that they would pray for this new venture. Some smiled at me that “bless your heart” kind of smile, maybe because they were thinking what I’ve been thinking over the past couple of months – “this guy’s an idiot.”
One friend in particular came shuffling toward us but stopped at the empty basket on the table. From his disheveled coat he pulled out two crumpled dollar bills and dropped them in the basket. He didn’t say anything, he just looked at me and smiled his one of a kind smile. I was immediately reminded of Luke’s documentation of Jesus at the temple, in chapter 21, where he sees a widow dropping two “mites” in a collection box, and for a split second I felt like I was seeing, almost exactly what Jesus saw that day.
Obviously there was some variation. . . .
Jesus saw a widow, I saw a widower.
She gave two “mites,” he gave two dollars.
It was all she had. I don’t know if those two dollars was all he had.
What I do know is that like her – my friend wasn’t giving out of his abundance but he was giving out of his scarcity.
I haven’t been able to shake the image of my friend and his offering of two dollars last night. As I sat in the dark of my living room this morning, reflecting on last night, and that particular moment. I prayed that God would allow generous people to step forward and give to this daunting project.
And in the quiet of the morning, I heard His whisper. . .
“I did.”
“That was a generous person who gave two dollars.”
That’s what generosity looks like.
Folks are curious how much money we’ve raised so far toward our goal of . . . . 6 million dollars. (Yeah you read that right).
I’m pleased to say as of this writing we have 16,600 and TWO DOLLARS!
If you would like to know more about the vision of The Oasis Center email me.
If you would like to know more about The Oasis Center, sign up for updates here.
If you would like to give – donate here.
B E H I N D / T H E / B A R 
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