A Life Well-Lived, Part 15, Giving Around the World

Timothy came in one day and enthusiastically announced: “I’m going to write a book called ‘How I Bought a Villa in France’!” This idea was hatched after Tim read how Kyle MacDonald had bartered his way from a red paper-clip to a house in a series of 14 trades. Timothy then showed his dad a picture of a tractor and a truck on E-bay that were selling dirt cheap. He explained they could be bought, fixed, and sold for a huge profit, then… buy something bigger and sell it for a bigger profit, and so on. Looking at the pictures, Herb said, “That’s a really good deal … I might need that tractor myself… And you could use that truck…” Timothy stared at the pictures with his dad for a second, shrugged, and laughed, “Well, I’ll have to change the name of that book --- from "How I bought a villa in France" to “How I Bought a Truck and Tractor on E-bay!”

Many of the “goals lists” Timothy left behind included giving away a million dollars (or even billions!), and givers are always on the lookout for resources! He really enjoyed the challenge of finding unique ways to make dollars from dimes, and occasionally (okay, rarely), his efforts paid off! One day, as Timothy ran through for breakfast, I read him some highlights of “Giving it All Away and Getting it Back Again” by David Green (Hobby Lobby’s founder). The book explained that God can use a businessman just as much as He can use a minister. The “deal-sealer” for Tim was when Mr. Green wrote out a check for 2 million dollars to a Christian ministry to get the gospel to children in a foreign country. Timothy’s face lit up as he affirmed, “That’s ME!” (#goals!) We recently found among his papers a donation receipt to a charity we didn’t recognize, and knowing Timothy, I figured he must have known someone who worked there. I contacted the organization, and sure enough, Tim had met someone in his TESOL class (Teaching English as a Second Language) in Oklahoma City, who later moved with her husband to Uganda to teach in a Christian mission school. Through Instagram, Timothy had asked if there was anything they needed, and she mentioned tires for their vehicle. Request granted (through his donation), and they were able to continue their ministry without worrying about transportation.

Fast forward to September, 2021. Hannah Grace, Jubilee, and I were invited on a trip to Mexico with a pilot friend of Timothy’s (now a friend of ours!), Ben Shaffer and his family. Ben officially dedicated the trip to Timothy, and we enjoyed the chance to help give and serve in a “dump” village, an orphanage, and a home-church fiesta! While loading a native missionary’s vehicle with food staples to be taken to the mountains, Ben noticed Joel's tires. “We can’t send him over the mountains with those tires.”

The search was on, but we could find only two matching tires in the entire town, and we practically had to fight Ben for the privilege of buying them for Joel! We wanted to continue Timothy’s “tire” legacy and honor his memory where the “rubber meets the road” (But so did Ben!). I think we finally compromised and bought one each. Lol Timothy never did buy that villa in France, neither the truck, nor the tractor! lol But there are people in the mountains of Mexico who will thank him in eternity for the life he lived, the love he gave, and the example he set.

Thank you, God, for leaving us so many treasures from Timothy’s life to encourage and inspire us to be more like Jesus.

“As it is written, “He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.” 2 Corinthians 9:9

“Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share.” 1 Timothy 6:18