By Candace Pringle
This is the story of a humble man who has been attending our church for as long as I can remember. A man who gives of his time and talent to teams most people don’t even know exist. A quiet, but faithful man who speaks into the next generation, and has always been a great encouragement to me, personally. I also had to convince him to let me use his name for this story, because this story isn’t actually about him, after all.
The way he tells the story, in early 1985, Rich Randall was a mess. His life without the Lord was full of debt, in a low-paying job, and his personal life wasn’t much better. In shambles, after breaking up his first family, feeling lost and confused, he gave his life over to the Lord, and accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior in May of that year.
Rich’s church pastor, at that time, made him very angry when he taught lessons about giving more money to the church, and even tithing. Questioning how he could possibly tithe, pay his debts, and live a reasonable life, he began to search the scriptures, and step out in financial faithfulness little by little. As he began to trust the Lord, he began to see miracle after miracle.
The first miracle came that spring, when he met Judy, a bubbly, outgoing, amazing woman. God was not only giving him another chance in family and love, but in finances too! Judy began to coach Rich on how to reduce expenses, and live more faithfully.
The second miracle, was really more a series of small miracles, one after another. At least half a dozen times over the next two years, the Lord sent Rich surprises in the mail. Some were bank letters, inviting him to transfer his credit card debt to their bank at zero interest for 6 months! Some were Credit Union loan sales at reduced interest rates. At a time when interest rates were double-digit, Rich was astounded to get these deals at just the right time, and knew it could only be God, providing and making a way out of the mess he had created. They each took work, but as Rich was faithful, the Lord was faithful too.
Each time Rich’s debt payment was lowered, he increased the amount he was paying toward debt principle and simultaneously, increased the amount he was giving to the church! God was teaching him the lesson of “First Fruits”, first hand. He began to tithe to the church first each pay day, and then manage to make ends meet, rather than pay everything else first, and then discover that there was no money left to tithe. After seeing this principle work, against all human odds, Rich is now convinced that “First Firsts”, not only works, but it truly is the Lord’s arithmetic.
The third miracle, came in the form of an opportunity, as they so often do. This amazing opportunity resulted in a four thousand dollar a year raise, and an exciting, enjoyable, and productive 24-year second career, that later resulted in a nice retirement. By 1988, Rich was finally able to reach the level of a full tithe, to accelerate his debt payoff, and enjoy a reasonable standard of living with Judy. He never looked back. Since that time, he has always faithfully brought his full tithe to the church, and contributed above and beyond as well! He contributed to two building programs at his church in Maryland during the 13 years he lived there.
Rich joined Freedom Valley in 2002, and continued his tithing without question. Now, when he hears about new building projects or missions work, he immediately asks himself, “where do I sign up?!” He owns the vision of his church, as his own, and views FVChurch as “my church”, where he has a big part to play! His outlook now isn’t that the preacher is asking too much of him, and building campaigns don’t make him angry anymore. Instead, he’s constantly looking for an opportunity to be generous, because he doesn’t want to turn away the gifts the Lord is going to shower on him in return.
“You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure. For God loves a person who gives cheerfully. And God will generously provide all you need.”