Wise in Their Own Way

“ADULTS have wisdom, but children are wise in their own way,” says a Nigerian proverb. Edwin, a Christian elder in Nigeria, found this to be true.

One day, Edwin found a metal box under his desk at home.

“Whose is this?” Edwin asked his three children.

“It’s mine,” responded eight-year-old Emmanuel. He hastened to add that this rusted, five-inch-square [12 cm] iron box with a slit in the top was for contributions to the worldwide work of Jehovah’s Witnesses. “Since I do not go to the Kingdom Hall every day,” he explained, “I decided to make a box so that whenever I do not use my snack money, I can put it in the box.”

Emmanuel’s father had a box at home for saving money to attend the annual district convention. But because of a family emergency, they had used the money in it. To make sure that his contribution money would not be used for any other purpose, Emmanuel took an old tin to a welder to have it sealed. The welder, upon learning the purpose of the tin, made a box for Emmanuel out of scrap metal. Michael, Emmanuel’s five-year-old brother, also asked for a box.

Amazed at what the children had done, Edwin asked them why they had had the boxes made. Michael responded: “I want to contribute!”

Unknown to their parents, Emmanuel, Michael, and Uchei, their nine-year-old sister, had been saving part of their lunch money and putting it in the boxes. Where did they get the idea? As soon as the children were old enough to hold money in their hands, their parents taught them to drop some money into the contribution box at the Kingdom Hall. Obviously, the children learned their lesson well.

When the boxes were filled, they were cut open. The savings totaled $3.13 (U.S.)—no insignificant sum in a country where the average annual income is just a few hundred dollars. Such voluntary donations support the preaching work of Jehovah’s Witnesses now being done in 235 lands worldwide.