The Key to a Successful Penny Offering!!!!!

So if you are thinking of doing a penny offering and wondering if it successful. The answer is YES they are!!!!  Our Church has held 2 Penny Offerings the last 2 VBS.  Last year was for Foster Kids and this year it was for Missionaries.  We were soo overwhelmed with how "into" it the kids go.  We had parents coming and telling us as we checked in kids. "My child has been doing chores all day for pennies for the Penny Offering tonight.", or "they have been hunting all over the house or car for Pennies."  Oh and by the way it's ALWAYS BOYS VS GIRLS!!! So that adds to the competition.

So here are some tips if you are thinking of doing this.

•  A Penny Scale 
• ALOT of Rolled Pennies from the Bank
• 2 -5Gallon buckets like from Home Depot 

Now the Key to having a Successful Penny Drive are the following:

1. Excitement about what you are raising money for
2. Workers who are excited about what you are raising money for
3. Tell the kids the Penny's WEIGH more if they leave the wrappers on
4. If a kid buys a "brick" ($25) of Penny's tell them to leave it in the box that it will WEIGH more. (Trust me your penny counters will appreciate this one)
5. Lastly, an amazing group of people willing to count and roll all of the Pennies and Coins that come through.  

One last important note and that is this. One group may win by weight but you never know what is in those buckets till the Penny Counters get ahold of it.  The last year, we had a times were the boys had won by weight but when the Counters started counting they found in the girls, that they had wrapped $20 bills around their .50 penny bundle.  So you never know till the end.  And on those last 2 days you need to have extra people willing to come in and help count.

Our last two Penny offerings have blown our Children's Pastor away.  Last year for the foster kids. He had set a goal of $600 for the kids to raise. And the kids raised $1500.  So this year we were raising money for two missionaries.  One is going to the Congo and the other to Laos.  Our Childrens' pastor set the goal at $800 and yet again our kids blow us away with $1600.  So never underestimate a child.

Secrets of an Overcomer

• Accept Change as a Learning Experience.
Romans 8:28 And we know that all things God works for the good of those who love him.
Sometimes our lives explode; they come together in new patterns. What God allows to happen is always for our best even if we don’t understand. A survivor looks for the positive in change and accepts it.
• Don’t Give Up!
1Peter 5:8b The devil, as a roaring lion, walks about seeking whom he may devour.
Prey is only becomes prey when it is caught off guard, or is sick, feeble or weak. We can’t let our trails get us down or cause us to give up. If we do, we become prey for the devil. A survivor does quietly what needs to be done no matter how overwhelming the odds.
• Reach out to others
Matthew 5:44 Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that heat you and pray for them that despitefully use you and persecute you.
Reach out even if you feel shunned. Be a friend to everyone whether or not they are a friend to you. A survivor is a giver who has learned the joy that only giving can bring.
• Live in the Present
Matthew 6:11 Give us this day our daily bread.
Our prayer should be asking for strength we need for today. We can’t bring back yesterday and we don’t know that we have tomorrow. A survivor realizes that if he can make it though one day, then God will give him. What he needs when tomorrow comes. Burn your bridges behind you! Leave the guilt at the altar, let God forgive and give peace. Getting bitter and trying t convince others of innocence does not help. True victory can only come through surrender. Real you cannot be based on external circumstances; it is based on an inwardly joy.

• Don’t be Afraid to Dream Again.
Proverbs 29: 18a Where there is no vision, the people perish
If one dream is crushed, there is always another. Tomorrow is a new day. Select some new dreams and create some new goals.
New dreams, goals, and visions give renewed strength for the future and “to him that overcomes will I give to eat of the tree of life; which is in the midst of the paradise of God.” Revelation 2:7
What an encouragement are the wonderful blessings to those who wait and have fought the good fight and have finished the course.