For the past seven years, each WCS eighth grader has been given ten dollars and four weeks to use it to make someone's life better. Each student is required to turn in a report of what they did, why they did it, and the difference it made. One of my students this year is Jim, a young man from China. Here is the amazing story of how last month he turned $10 into $200. It is unedited.
In this project, I was given $10 and a month to prove that I have potential to not be a wicked and lazy servant as stated in Matthew 25:26. My plan was to use lower grade items to exchange for better grade items and use the money earned for achieving the basketball dream of a poor kid. This method was adopted from a TV show.
First, I asked my neighbor next to my house something that I can use the $10 to exchange for. He offered me several things. After analyzing the value of the items, I picked the Xbox Golden VIP gift card. It was a gift for his son from another family but he is not allowed to play games anymore. The gift card was left unused. At that moment, I was thinking that my friend Leo has just bought xbox one, and he was about to pay for his Golden VIP. It would be a great choice to use it for exchanging for something from Leo. On the next day, I went to my friend Leo’s house to hangout. I showed him the Xbox gift card. He wanted it so bad, and he offered me his backpack that he received from one of his classmate on his birthday last month. It is a Nike backpack and it is brand new but Leo did not like that backpack very much. I searched it online, and it costs about $50. Then, I was thinking about the kid in my neighbourhood who is about 10 years old. This Nike backpack could be his new school bag. So, I went down to his house and asked his dad for something to exchange. He offered me an adidas watch that he does not wear it much. I quickly searched online and found out that the watch costs about $85. Obviously, I accepted the offer. After that, I got home and my cousin came. I shared with him about my project, then he said that he could help me with my project. He was very interested in the adidas watch and asked me if I can exchange with him. He has a used Samsung Galaxy S6 and wished to use it as the offer to exchange for the adidas watch. So, I made the exchange with him. It was a really great deal for me, I really appreciated him for supporting my project. Few days later, I got back from my spring break trip. I spent a short amount of time to clear up the phone and packed it nicely. Then, I brought it to a second handed phone store in Chinatown and asked them how much they will pay for this phone. At the end, we have made a deal at $200 in cash. With the money in hand, I made a plan to surprise one poor kid who had a basketball dream.
On the Sunday, when I was playing basketball at my church, I noticed there is another basketball court inside a little park. There were lots of kids playing basketball. There is a kid named Kelvin, who is about 11 or 12 years old. I can see that his family is poor and does not have the money to buy him new cloth and shoes. The bottom of his shoes are starting to fall off. He said the shoes are the only pair he has and basketball shoes are too expensive for him. I talked to his mom and asked if I can buy him a pair of new shoes and a basketball for my bible project. His mom accepted it and I took them to the Galleria. Kelvin liked the pair of KD9s, and they were also on sale. I bought them for him and also a nike basketball. They costs $180. Kelvin was super excited and he liked his new shoes. I told him keep working hard on his basketball skills, do not give up his basketball dream. I believe he can become a very good basketball player in the future. After that, I still have $20 left so I went to Mcdonald's and bought food for beggars on the street.
In conclusion, this activity had made me a better thinker on how to advertise the product that I need to sell. It also made me realized that we have to help more poor people like Kelvin in the future. While I have learned more about myself, I have also achieved Kelvin’s basketball dream. After all, I have proved that my skills are useful as a servant of God and I am willing to serve him with joy.
Applicable quote of the day:
Riches do not consist in the possession of treasures, but in the use made of them.
Napoleon Bonaparte
God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1
www.hawleybooks.com
E-mail me at steve@hawleybooks.com
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