MENA—Hanafi Idiri Returns Tithes in Olive Oil
Throughout the Bible, we are encouraged to give a portion of our income or resources to God as an expression of honor and gratitude (Prov. 3: 9, 10). In the Old Testament, God commissioned the Israelites to bring their tithes to provide for the priests and Levites. In the New Testament, Jesus affirmed the practice of tithe-giving, and the apostle Paul encouraged Christians to give their tithes to those in need and to those who were ministering in the gospel.
When Hanafi Idiri was in his mid-20s, he began attending a local Adventist church in a town in the Middle East and North Africa Union. Believing in the Adventist message, he got baptized and decided to become a pastor. Eventually, his mother and most of his siblings followed him in baptism. His father, at the age of 61, was the last one to join.
Hanafi’s family owned an olive tree farm that produced between 400 to 500 liters of olive oil each year. When Father became an Adventist, he decided to respect all the Bible commandments as they are taught in the Adventist Church, including the tithing principle. He began tithing his produce in money and watched God abundantly bless his olive tree farm as it continued to flourish year after year.
Six years after Father died, Hanafi’s mother gave each child their inheritance of the land. Hanafi now had a chance to cultivate his own olives and oil. He and his wife made the decision to continue following the Bible principle of tithing as Hanafi’s father had done. Every year his five trees produce approximately 80 liters of oil. Hanafi faithfully gives eight liters to the church, which now uses it to prepare food every Sabbath for the students and other needy church members and families in his community. “We can see God’s blessings in our oil,” said Hanafi. “Every year we give so much away, but we still have enough for the rest of the year.”
“The very act of giving expands the heart of the giver and unites him more fully with the Redeemer of the world” (Ellen G. White, Counsels on Stewardship, p. 30). We are never more like God than when we give from the heart our tithes and offerings: to redeem others, to nurture hope, to protect, to serve, and to heal. “At the altar of self-sacrifice—the appointed place of meeting between God and the soul—we receive from the hand of God the celestial torch which searches the heart, revealing the need of an abiding Christ” (Ibid.). And so, our tithes and offerings bring not just material blessings (Mal. 3:8-11). Rather, in the experience of choosing and acting to do so, we find ourselves at a place of meeting between our very selves and God. We become one with God in heart and value and purpose for our world. We become part of God’s plan for our broken world. We are changed. As tithe is holy (Lev. 27:30-32), we are privileged not only to touch the holy but to experience holy power in the world. First, holiness within our own heart. Second, holiness as part of God’s great missional project—extending His holiness in an unholy, profane world of broken, hurting, sinful, people. No blessing can be greater.
By Kheir Boutrous
