One goal in stewardship education is to teach children that by sharing their gifts they have the power to make a difference now. If they get into the habit of waiting until a better time to be generous or share their talents, they could easily spend their whole lives waiting to be stewards. Instead, we want to encourage them to get into the stewardship habit while they are young. If they do that, it is a habit they will have their whole lives. Share this story of 57¢ to help children see that they do have the power to do tremendous work, even if their gifts seem very small.
Back in the1880’s in the city of Philadelphia, there lived a little girl named Hattie May Wiatt. Hattie was a member of the Baptist Temple, which was growing very quickly at that time. One morning when she arrived at Sunday school she found the school so crowded that she could not get in the door. She stood outside, confused and afraid to push through the crowds of children to find a place in the Sunday school. The kindly pastor, Reverend Russell Conwell, came by and saw the scared little girl standing outside with her Sunday school book and he picked her up, carried her on his shoulders and found a place for her in the crowded Sunday school classroom.
The next day Reverend Conwell saw Hattie again and he told her that he was hoping to soon have enough money to build a bigger church so that there would be lots of room for all of the children.
Some time later Hattie May became very sick. She died in 1886. After the funeral the family came to the pastor with a worn and crumpled little purse containing 57¢. They told Reverend Conwell that Hattie May had been saving the money to help build a new church and Sunday school that would have enough room for all the children. The pastor could not believe it. He had not even begun to save or raise any money for the new building. The pastor told his parishioners about Hattie’s small gift and very quickly more and more people were making donations for the new church. They all knew that if a little girl could give 57¢ surely they could give something.
Today this simple little Temple Baptist Church is one of the largest in Philadelphia with seating for 3,300 and Temple University where hundreds of students study the Christian faith every year. And they credit it all to Hattie May’s 57¢!
