How to Influence Long-Term Change in Malawi through Legacy Giving

Imagine being able to send your child or grandchild off to college knowing they’ll graduate debt free.

Knowing that you have a solid financial future plan in place that can help you achieve your future life goals.

Ensuring that the organizations you care about can continue to provide gospel-centered Christian care to people around the world for the foreseeable future. 

Imagine being able to do all of the above.

How is something like that possible? Chances are you’ve heard and seen a bit of chatter lately about this thing called planned giving.

But what exactly is planned giving, and how does it benefit not only you and your family but also you and the organizations you support?

Let’s start with some basics.

What is planned giving?

Kelly Hahn, a Christian financial advisor, describes planned giving as, “the intentional planning of being charitable with the blessings that our Lord has given us.” What sets it apart from other forms of giving (i.e. one-time donations, recurring gifts, etc.) is that gifts made through planned giving  support the people and organizations you care about long after you have been called to your heavenly home.

Planned giving is sometimes referred to as “legacy giving” for this very reason. In taking time now to develop your estate plan, draft a will, and financially plan for planned giving you are laying the groundwork to leave an impactful legacy.

It's a legacy that will create a better future for the world around you and the people you care about.

How can planned giving benefit my family and the causes I care about?

In the immediate future, taking the time to set up your estate plan and making a will means you will be ahead of the 60% of Americans who still haven’t set up an estate plan or will.

Having an estate plan or will in place lets you make sure that the family and friends you care about receive the gifts you would want them to have when you pass away. Without a will, this isn’t possible, and the consequences can be highly unpleasant as guest blogger (and token millennial) Alicia points out in her blog.

You can set up your will to provide for your child or grandchild so they can attend college without having to pay for loans.

You can make sure you are taking all the necessary steps to ensure that the future life you want to live is possible. How nice would it be to take a longer vacation every other year?

You can plan your giving to ensure that you’ll have enough money to support the causes you care about as they work to share the gospel with people all around the world.

You’ll be in a select group of people who are taking time to be financially responsible with the gifts God has blessed you with, something Jesus encourages us to do. Consider the parable of the talents from Matthew 25:14-30 when Jesus says,

“Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much.”

This is an especially important reminder for young people.

As a millennial, you have the unique opportunity to start your giving early on and watch it grow with you as you go through different season of life. Kelly Hahn’s advice is this: “Don’t worry about the amount, think about the percentage given from a joyful heart and strive to increase the percentage over time. God will bless your giving.”

One way that God can bless your giving is by using your legacy gift to create more opportunities for people to meet Him—opportunities that bring real change to people’s lives both physically and spiritually.

You can make a difference for children like Anastasia.

Anastasia's life had been changed thanks to your support.  

When Anastasia was born there didn’t appear to be any problems. She was a happy, healthy baby girl. But as she grew older, her parents realized something was wrong.

Anastasia was deaf.

In Malawi there are few resources for children who are deaf. Regular schools don’t have materials or teacher training necessary to provide an education to children with special needs. Her parents worried what would happen to their intelligent and caring daughter.

Would she be able to stay in school? What would happen if she didn’t finish? What kind of life would their daughter be able to have?

It seemed as if Anastasia’s story would to end here, in worry, in uncertainty, in fear.

But it didn’t.

And that’s thanks to the work God is doing through your gifts to support Kingdom Workers' disability ministry in Malawi and programs like it.

Eventually Anastasia’s family heard about the work of the disability ministry and Anastasia’s story turned a new page.

The disability ministry worked with Anastasia and her parents to develop a series of signs to be used for communication. They also introduced the family to the healing message of the gospel. As the volunteers helped Anastasia, they realized how much Anastasia wanted to learn more.

Thanks to donors like you, Anastasia received a scholarship and is now able to attend classes at a boarding school for those with special needs. Her grandmother is proud of Anastasia for all that she is learning and doing with her life.

Thanks to your support, children like Anastasia are able to have a better life here on earth. Their story doesn’t have to end in one of fear or worry. They’re able to get the care they need and learn about the love of their Savior.

When you decide to involve planned giving in your family’s financial plan you are helping re-write the script of so many life stories. Your own, your children’s, and people all around the world can have a new future.

See how you can make a lasting difference and how to get started with our free, downloadable planned giving guide. Making a difference with the life you’ve been given doesn’t begin tomorrow, real impactful change starts today.