Praise God, dear friends
I have been reading various sharing of best practices on Tithing. And I
too wish to share my personal experience on it.
As a Jesus Youth member in Bombay, I came to know the importance of tithe
from a friend and used to contribute a tenth of my salary on a regular
basis, partly to the Church and partly to the poor.
In 1997 after my marriage, I came down to Dubai in search of a job but was
successful only on my second visit. I contributed a tenth of my first
salary to the Church. But it did not become a monthly practice. I would
never say it was on purpose but somehow it just did not occur to me that I
was missing out on a particular habit of mine. My in-laws wanted us (me and
my hubby) to buy a new flat in Bombay and we were saving for that. Though
we were regular churchgoers, my spiritual side took a back seat as I got
quite involved in the new surroundings, new friends and relatives, parties
etc.
In February 1999, when I was 7 months pregnant, I noticed some changes in
my husband. He had become quite aloof, used to come late from office and
sit with some files doing calculations. We had at that time, my cousin and
uncle (who had come on visit and looking for job) staying with us. After
few days I confronted him late one night and asked him lovingly as to what
was bothering him. He burst out crying and narrated the story.
In his company, around 75 employees had a fund, wherein everyone puts in a
minute part of their salary every month. Sort of a savings bank. Each
employee could take a loan from this fund for a meager interest. My
husband was in charge of all these. He had not carefully maintained the
accounts for this fund for 1 or 2 years (it had been running successfully
for 5 years) and found that 130,000 (mind you in Dirhams) was missing. He
did inform his Manager and they went through the books several times to
find out how the money was missing. Till date we are not sure of how this
happened and who cheated.
As I was pregnant, he was reluctant to inform me of this incident. Though I
was shocked after his sharing, I consoled him and put him to sleep but
ended up crying the whole night. The next morning I remember going to
office early before my uncle and cousin could wake up because my eyes were
red and swollen from previous nights tears.
Things were not easy. After that I have been running from one bank to
another for loan to repay the money. Finally I succeeded in getting loan
from one bank for Dhs. 50,000 and my husband got from another bank for Dhs.
25,000. The Manger also succeeded in getting a loan of Dhs. 25,000 on our
behalf. My husbands manager was quite helpful and saw to it that he did
not lose his job.
I was adamant that we would repay all the money and so today my friends we
are still repaying the money that was lost. We still have to pay the
balance.
We kind of stopped visiting friends, sacrificed a lot of habits and things.
I even backed out of Christeen, Dubai on the pretext of pregnancy and
delivery. Life was not very easy but we supported each other. We somehow
managed our lives and that of our son, who was born after two months,
without seeking any help from any friends or relatives.
I have always wondered why this happened to us, where did we go wrong and
have spent many tearful nights. My family still does not know about it. My
father always inquires why we are not investing our money on a house and we
just try and change the topic.
Then in July 2000, I lost my job. Another major blow. My husband kept
assuring me that things would work out and I always looked for answers to
our plight in prayers.
One night while I was speaking to my mother she took the topic of tithe and
asked me if I was still doing it. The next day my ex-colleague called and
asked me the same thing. I KNEW FOR SURE that this was the answer to my
prayers. I asked for Gods forgiveness and made a promise that whatever
happens I would not take a back seat in my contribution to the church.
Friends during this past one year, I have worked in three companies on
temporary basis for eight months. I went on a vacation with my son for 1
month and spent wonderful time with my family. I have only been jobless for
3 months. My salary in each company has been better than the previous
company and I have given a tenth of whatever I got, without fail to Church
and the needy.
My husband got a promotion and is doing quite well in his firm. As for me,
today, 1 Aug 2001, I start my career afresh with a new permanent job. I
have got into a good company with a very, very good salary, which even if I
had to continue working with my previous employers I would not have
achieved for another three years.
We have learnt a lot from this experience and have grown stronger in our
FAITH.
Hope this sharing helps someone in some way
Lovingly In Christ
Majie
Dubai
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