Pay It Forward

So many people dream of winning the lottery. While the odds are slim, many people buy a ticket in hopes that they’ll be the lucky victor. So, it’s ironic to read stories of people “hitting it big” when they already had big pockets. Rachel Lapierre was fairly well-off. As a former nurse and former Miss Quebec beauty queen and happy resident of Montreal, Canada, she was tickled to learn that she had won $1,000 a week for the rest of her life, but the money wasn’t exactly life-changing, at least not to her.

When Rachel learned that she was the lottery winner, she was ecstatic over her luck. But she wasn’t thinking of taking a shopping spree. Instead, Rachel recognized that her winnings were much needed by others, so she decided to give it all away to charity.

Not everyone is in the same position as Rachel to be so generous, but the Bible does speak a lot on generosity and sharing our blessings. As a pastor, it’s important that you pass those teachings along, and DonorWerx offers resources to help. Begin your journey today.

For the average person, an extra $1,000/week is life-changing. It would allow the average American to pay off their average personal debt of $90,000 in under two years, or jumpstart their retirement savings to surpass the $63,000 average balance of people in their 40s in about one year. In other words, $1,000/week is nothing to gawk at — especially when the lottery promises to pay it to you for life.

Of course, for Rachel, another $1,000/week wasn’t going to have a major impact on her lifestyle. She was living pretty comfortably before getting the stunning news that she had won the local lottery, so she did what her big heart told her to do: She put all the money into her nonprofit.

Long before winning the lottery, Rachel knew she wanted to make a difference in the lives of others. That’s why she was inspired to start her charity, Le Book Humanitaire, or “The Humanitarian Book,” long before she had lottery winnings flowing into her bank account. For years, Rachel has been using her own money along with donations to support her nonprofit and other philanthropical endeavors, but the lottery winnings help her nonprofit reach even more people.

Do you know a Rachel in your community? Tapping into donors with a high ability to give can make all the difference for your church and community, but it takes the right tools and talks to successfully encourage gifting. At DonorWerx, we’re dedicated to helping pastors inspire generosity and get the support they need. Learn more today.

Spreading Hope Everywhere It’s Needed

When it comes to money, Rachel is extremely grateful for what she has, but not because it affords her a jet-setting life of luxury. Rachel believes in using her wealth to help the less fortunate. “You know, money is money,” she explained to BBC News. “When you [are] born, you don’t have anything. And when you go, you’re going with nothing. But you’re going with your memories.”

When she founded The Humanitarian Book, she had a vision of helping people in Canada and countries like Haiti, Senegal, and India. With the help of volunteers, and her lottery money, she’s fulfilling that vision at an incredible pace. Her organization does a little bit of everything, kind of swooping in wherever help is needed.

Some of the most common causes of her organization include donating food to the hungry and helping cancer patients with chores. “We just try to promote good deeds,” Lapierre told the BBC. “A good deed can be so many things. It can be [donating] a bike today, it can be food, it can be transport to go to the hospital, it can be just listening to someone on the phone because they’re so lonely.”

Rachel knows that a single good deed can go a long way, and that’s what makes her attitude and story so inspiring, and so worth sharing with your congregation in alignment with Bible verses on giving.