Dear Readers:
Not long ago, my husband and I had the opportunity to connect with five of our six adult children, their spouses, our daughter-in-law and 18 of our 20 grandchildren in Scotland for our annual Sarvadi family reunion. Not many families of this size are able to converge at one time in one place—especially in another country. The blessing of this experience wasn’t lost on us.
God has given us so much.
When our children were young, we felt the call to teach them about tithing and philanthropy. God provided economic blessings beyond our greatest imaginations, and so we created the Sarvadi Family Foundation to give Him thanks. Through this charitable giving foundation, we taught our children that it is the Lord who gives man the ability to obtain wealth.[i] Our responsibility is to give our blessings back to others. Back then, we researched as a family and found several causes we could give to. Compassion for the homeless, care for orphans, and the desire to see a cure for cancer were some of their concerns.
Involving our children in decisions of giving blessed our hearts—and theirs.
Giving freely with joy was—is—the key. The Bible says, “The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver (2 Corinthians 9:6-7 ESV).
Through our obedience to give freely, God continued to increase not only our financial health but our spiritual and emotional health as well. Over the years, we learned there were spiritual principles that operate just as sure as the laws of physics. We understood (and followed) the commandment to give back and our children learned what it meant to leave a lasting legacy through the work being funded by the Sarvadi Family Foundation. We did these things not as reluctant obligations, but as enthusiastic blessings unto the Lord, and for that willingness, God blessed us in return.
Our family foundation would go on to become the Nathaniel Foundation—an organization whose goal is to make a positive impact on our local community, minister reconciliation among the people of the God of the Bible (Jews and Christians) and facilitate biblical prophecy.
So many covenant promises have been fulfilled.
As I look at this photograph of our precious family, I cannot help but think of what the future will hold. What will future generations achieve in their lifetimes? Our children and grandchildren are our collective future. When we invest in them as we do in others we care about; we pass on our wisdom. We share the Godly principles we have learned in our time; then we trust that our hope in God continues to go forth in the world and His Kingdom continues to advance.
Victoria
