Watch Those Pennies Grow

Have you ever read Five Little Pennies and How They Grew? It’s a great little book—probably my favorite children’s book. It tells the story of a Sabbath School teacher in the spring of 1905 who inspired her five class members to invest a penny each for missions, and how their five pennies grew to $11.52 by Christmastime. The children bought eggs and vegetable seeds with their money, then sold the chickens and vegetables and gave the money to missions on the last Sabbath of the year. From that little beginning, the Investment Department of the General Conference eventually developed. A pretty amazing story, and a good read if you can find the book.

In one church where I preached, we shared that narrative for the children’s story and appealed to the young people to think of ways they could support the Lord’s work. Trygve was one little boy who caught the vision that day. After church, he told Maggi he wanted to start a “garden store” and give the money he made to the Otammari project! We thought, “How sweet of him,” but we had no idea what that little commitment would turn into. Last Sabbath, we visited Trygve and his family, and he proudly presented us with the proceeds of his lettuce sales. Can you guess how much he gave? God had blessed Trygve with some good customers, and he handed us more than 100 dollars!

Maybe you or somebody you know—big or small—could make investments for the Lord and watch Him bless your efforts to raise money for missions.

Oh, I should probably tell you how old Trygve is: He’s four years old!

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