Niki Anderson ~ Author & Speaker

     Saving the lives of 100 Africans thrilled my heart more than all that happened this past summer. An amazing feat? Yes, and I did it at no risk to my skin.

     In August, I stopped at a yard sale halfway through my bike ride. I positioned my kickstand, and surveyed the tables of trivia like a vulture circling above a fresh kill. I love a bargain.

     In an envelope at home were a couple twenties remaining from the stimulus check. Bob had said, "Designate what's left for yourself." I could bicycle home for the money.

     I'd forgotten about my little reserve until moments after spotting a velvet-lined chest of gold-trimmed silverware, complete with serving pieces for a shocking 20 dollars. For a couple years I'd envisioned this perfect match for the china I inherited from my mom.

     Understand that I already owned Mom's Reed and Barton sterling with extras ranging from gravy ladle to olive tongs. Oh, and I had a second-hand set in a different pattern I'd picked up for picnic and patio use. In another drawer, I had my everyday stainless, still in fair shape after 35 years of use and a few mishaps in the garbage disposal.

     Yet there before my longing eyes and my greedy heart was precisely what I wanted to complement the gold-trimmed dishes in the sideboard at home.

     I paused. My selfish desire was suddenly opposed by facts I'd learned from rock star Bono. Speaking to a satellite audience of thousands, Bono informed the healthy populous of listeners that it costs 20 cents for an inoculation that immunizes a woman or child against HIV Aids in Africa. That computes to five vaccines per dollar. Or the more startling equation of five lives per dollar to protect human beings from a fatal disease.

     I hate to confess it; I hesitated. A box of fancy forks, knives and spoons weighed against the livelihood of a fellow human being? I could go home, get the 20 dollars from the envelope, buy the silverware, and still give to World Vision for immunizations, but that wasn't the point. My decision needed to be a victory over self-interest.

     Despite my surprising reluctance, at the outbreak of my conflict between materialism and self-denial, I knew which side would win. I could ensure the lives of 100 people with 20 dollars or be the guilty owner of a fourth set of silverware.

     I peddled home smiling.

     A couple days later, the topic of yard sales came up while I sat for a haircut. The end of the conversation ended with this request from my hairdresser. "Don't tip me, Niki. Throw it in with your donation to World Vision."

     World Vision got a heftier tip than I normally give my girlfriend for trimming my tresses. We bumped up our lifesaving act to 150 people. From now on, when I handle a couple dimes I'll see a Kenyan waiting in line for a lifesaving injection.

     KA-CHING! The sound of coins landing in an antique vase that now serves as my coin bank. Every two dimes buys a cheap shot that saves a life.

"...continue to remember the poor." Galatians 2:10

World Vision - PO Box 9716 - Federal Way, WA 98063-9716 www.worldvision.org OR www.CureAfrica.org