We hope these weekly Stories of Hope have been bringing you the same joy they’ve brought us. This week we wanted to share the encouraging story of a moppy-haired, thoughtful young boy from Pennsylvania named Luke*.
In early 2017, Luke was seven and received a Make-a-Wish Trip to LEGOLAND and Walt Disney World as a result of a condition that leaves him immunocompromised. In preparation for this trip, Luke’s grandfather gave him $20 to buy a souvenir. But because Luke is Luke, he said,
“I don’t want to spend my money, I want to save it up for something bigger.”
Luke decided he would save enough money to buy an epic LEGO set. He was unwavering in his determination to save, even making the selfless (and hilarious) choice to not buy his mom a birthday present. In fairness, he did make her a card.
Then, after more than six months of working and saving, Luke did something amazing — though he would say it was just the right thing to do.
After church one Sunday, Luke sat down with his mom at the kitchen table and surprised her with this conversation:
Luke: “Mom, I need to give them my money.”
Mom: “Give who your money?”
Luke: “IJM.”
Mom: “How much do you think you should give?”
Luke: “No, I need to give them all my money.”
Mom: “Are you sure?”
Luke: “Mom, I really need to do this. I need a really big envelope.”
Earlier that Sunday, Luke learned that there were people in the world who lived in slavery, who lived without hope and who needed help. Furthermore, he learned that IJM was helping. So in the mind of this child, he needed a big envelope more than he needed big LEGO, because his savings could help IJM, and IJM could help the people in slavery. It was just that simple:
“I want to give [my money] to slavery people. Because I don’t want them to be called slavery people. I want them to be called their names.”
In this season where we’re trying to figure out what’s best for our kids, or how the young people in our lives will understand scary things like COVID-19 and distancing from friends and grandparents, may Luke’s story give all of us some hope. Hope that our kids are pretty amazing and can give us perspective and joy even in the midst of difficult times.
To see Luke with the ‘really big envelope’ he was looking for, and to share any of our previous stories of hope, visit our Stories of Hope page.
