VIP Ministry Network

Do you know Amanda Maurice?

I do not know her personally. However, her name was mentioned at the first meeting I attended at our church. When they made a financial report, they talked about this person, Amanda Maurice. “Who is this person?” I wondered.

She had been a long term church member for 38 years. However, she passed away in 1999 at the age of 93. “Wait a minute!” I thought. “She is not with us any more, right? Why do they still talk about her?” I did not know the full story. So, I decided to dig up more details about her and to write an article about her faith and her love for God and for our church.

She was born in 1906 in Missouri. She married to Edwin, who died in 1981. They lived in Concord for 38 years and attended to our church. They had one daughter, Linda Maurice, who needs constant care because of her differently-able condition. When Amanda expected her last months on earth with her daughter she made a will. All the property that her husband and she had earned would be used to take care of her daughter. However, when the daughter, Linda, passed away, a part of the money will go to the Concord UMC that she loved dearly and a part of it will go to the institution that helps many people with the same condition that Linda had.

Even though Amanda passed away in 1999, Linda lived 10 more years after her mother’s departure. So, our church received the Amanda Maurice fund in 2010 from the Maurice foundation.  She wanted the money to be used to improve our church’s condition. So, we had a new roof this year thanks to her fund. We still have money left from the fund. Next year, we can have other major projects because of her generosity and love for our church.

That was the reason why people still talked about her and her faith 10 years later. I thought that was a neat way to outlive our physical life. I shared this idea with Inocentio family when Mr. Vicente Inocentio passed away. The family decided to give all memorials to our church. Thanks to the donation and the thoughtful decision of the UMW, we could have a defibrillator in our church building now. I still do not know how many lives will be saved because of that. But I do know that it will surely save some lives (Can it be mine?) I pray that this spirit of sharing life goes on among our church family members. May God bless all who live with the Spirit that outlives our physical lives!