Weeds Into Flowers?

​Give From Your Heart
Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. Romans 9:7 NIV


Bonay pulled weeds under a hot, Haitian sun. Hours later he carried an armful to the missionary’s gate. “For your new rabbit,” he said.
Judy Revis, known as Madam Steve, knew this boy from their village was not only thirsty, but hungry as well. So when she brought him water, she handed him a peanut butter sandwich. 
“Merci,” Bonay said with a broad smile.  
From this simple exchange, a new ministry was born.
Bonay ran and shouted to his brothers and sisters and all of his friends, “I traded weeds for peanut butter!”
Soon scores of children combed the countryside, pulled more armfuls of weeds, and carried them to Madam Steve. This time she had prepared lots of limeade and a basketful of peanut butter sandwiches. 
Through out that afternoon the same children returned time after time as the weed piles grew taller. Too much food for one lone rabbit, but Steve soon acquired three goats and that problem was solved.
Still, Judy was puzzled. The children could not have eaten all the peanut butter sandwiches she had given to them in such a short time. She turned to Bonay and asked him,“What are the children doing with their food?” 
Bonay hung his head, but then he looked up and told the truth. “They are giving it to others in our village who are hungry.”  
Elated, Judy laughed and cried and hugged the little boy. The Haitian people had been too proud to accept “handouts” from the missionaries. But they were willing to enjoy the fruits of the children’s hard labor.  
Before long, the supply of bread and peanut butter was depleted. But the story does not end there.
Word about Madam Steve’s “peanut butter kids” spread stateside and cases of peanut butter began arriving in Haiti, shipped by the Revis’ family and friends.
Months later, the children who first traded weeds for peanut butter began coming to the missionaries, not only for food, but for another reason: a backyard Bible study where they eagerly learned about the “Bread of life.”
More months passed. Then, some of the parents of those children asked the Revis couple if they would hold church services in their yards.


 God used a hungry, skinny boy with an armful of weeds and a missionary with bread and peanut butter, both with giving hearts, to bring hope to a Haitian village.


If you think you don’t have anything grand to offer to the Lord, give willingly whatever you have. The Lord will bless it and use it for His glory. 

These true events have inspired a children's story: The Peanut Butter Kid

​I am thankful and excited about this story.

What "weeds" have you given to the Lord? Did things work out like you had hoped? Or did the Lord have something else planned? What did you learn from the experience?

​Please share a few words with us. Many blessings, Carol  

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