God Has a Bigger Shovel

汉克和迪克西·阿什布伦纳夫妇在慷慨方面以身作则. 自1994年以来，汉克一直与康考迪亚欧文为许多项目筹集资金. 但是汉克不仅仅是筹集资金——阿什布伦纳夫妇将他们年收入的30%捐给路德教会的大学和教堂, and encourage others to do the same.

汉克说:“你不能要求别人做你自己都没有做过的事情。. “我们想树立一个榜样，这样人们就会说，‘如果他们能做到，我也能做到.’”

虽然他们作为路德教教育者的收入/薪水相当有限, 上帝带领阿什布伦纳夫妇做出了一系列精明的财务决策，使他们能够向康考迪亚欧文大学和其他路德教会大学捐赠大笔款项, for scholarships for Lutheran church workers.

“We want to see more people get into Lutheran education,” says Dixie, who taught in Lutheran schools for more than 20 years.

You can’t ask people to do something that you don’t do yourselves.

汉克在爱荷华州一个80英亩、自给自足的农场长大，他们在那里养奶牛、种玉米. 当地教堂的一个慷慨的人支付了汉克在康科迪亚苏厄德高中和大学的八年学费，汉克在那里有了“非凡的经历”.与此同时，迪克西离开了加州的中央山谷，冒险前往科罗拉多河森林大学攻读学位.

“I missed California a lot,” Dixie recalls. “My mom sent boxes of grapes and oranges via railway express.”

汉克和迪克西在加州湾区相遇，两人都是路德教会学校的老师. They married in 1962, and in 1966 accepted a call to St. 在约翰的纳帕，汉克成为了校长和中学老师. 在他任职的15年里，包括学前班在内，这所学校的学生从94人增加到300人左右.

但正是公共图书馆里的一本书引起了汉克的注意，并改变了他们的未来. The attention-grabbing title, How I turned $1,000 into One Million in Real Estate in My Spare Time, impressed Hank, and he bought the book for $4.95. “It was a Godsend,” he says. “Easy to understand and do.”

基本的建议是购买地段好的待修房产, 通过抵押贷款，尽可能多地利用别人的钱. “I followed the book and it worked beautifully,” Hank says.

他和迪克西用本金的工资凑足了钱，在好地段买了些破旧的房子, and improved them. The value of the homes went up quickly.

汉克说:“我们所做的就是给它们刷漆，修复景观，然后再卖掉它们。. “在两年内，我们通过做这些事情，价格几乎翻了一番. It didn’t take that much money to get started. It was fabulous, a real blessing.”

At one point, they owned 19 units. Later, through the sale of some of these homes, 他们能够在没有债务的情况下供四个孩子上完大学. “And we were only Lutheran school teachers,” Dixie marvels.

While holding onto their investments, they left Napa to start three Lutheran schools in the East Bay Area, and while fundraising for the schools, Hank’s eyes were opened again to the value of generosity.

“We were just tithing at the time,” he recalls. “我们有四个孩子，多年来一直靠工资过日子. But while I was fundraising for the schools, I talked to people and thought, ‘They sure give more than I do. If they can do it, we can do it.’ We upped our offerings at that time. 虽然我们家很难负担得起，但我父亲总是很乐意捐钱给教堂. He told me, ‘Remember, the Lord shovels it in and you shovel it out, but the Lord has a much bigger shovel.’ We have certainly found that to be true in our own lives. It’s amazing how the Lord has blessed us.”

They began to watch as they gave sacrificially, and the Lord gave it back to them, “to the exact penny sometimes,” Hank says. “It was amazing. Malachi 2:10 is my favorite verse.”

这段经文说:“将十分之一全收进仓库，使我家里有粮食. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, 我若不为你们打开天上的窗户，降福给你们，直到你们用不着了.” (ESV) In 1991, 汉克接受了挑战，通过一个名为“分享我们事工的异象”的项目，为路德教会密苏里-加州-内华达-夏威夷地区的康考迪亚欧文分校和康考迪亚波特兰分校招收更多的学生.当时，康考迪亚欧文分校只有12名来自CNH区的学生，康考迪亚波特兰分校只有7名. 汉克在100多个教会开展了筹款活动，为教会和两所学院的捐赠基金和奖学金筹集资金. By 1995, Concordia Irvine had almost 100 students from the CNH District, and Concordia Portland had more than 70. 后来，一个高中老同学雷·哈尔姆(Ray Halm)的电话把阿什布伦纳一家带到了南方. 赫尔姆当时是康考迪亚欧文分校的校长，他希望汉克能把他的筹款经验带到欧文分校. 汉克拒绝了其他大学和私营部门的录取通知书，接受了这份工作.

他听到了一些建议，这些建议决定了他的筹款方式:“需要合适的人去问合适的人, for the right gift, in the right amount, for the right purpose, in the right manner, at the right time.”

汉克说:“我已经和很多同事分享了这个想法，因为我觉得它太棒了.

2001年，他从CUI的执行副总裁职位上退休，但他的退休并没有持续太久.

“I became very bored after six weeks of retirement,” Hank says. “后来杰克·普莱斯总统打电话让我回去工作，所以我去了四分之一次. I was so happy to come back to work.”

82岁的汉克仍在CUI工作，他“非常享受这份工作”.” He spends time with around 100 donors, 大多在南加州以外的地方，比如北加州, Arizona, Missouri, Nevada, Colorado, Oregon and Washington. A few live in Minnesota and South Dakota. 汉克说:“我最喜欢筹款的地方是与人合作. “They’ve all become great friends. I look forward to every visit, and I drive away encouraged. 捐助者告诉我，看到大学正在做的事情，他们感到很高兴.”

令人惊讶的是，超过50%的捐赠者从未参观过康考迪亚欧文分校.

汉克说:“他们通过我们的唱诗班和进入教堂的音乐团体了解到我们。. “Others are grandparents and parents of former students. I always try to bring new material for them to see, to share the excitement of what’s happening on campus.”

阿什布伦纳夫妇喜欢旅行，他们去过51个国家, Dixie plays the organ for church services, gardens, and teaches Bible studies on books including Daniel, Colossians and Revelation. 他们继续慷慨地为最近完成的Borland-Manske中心等项目提供资金.

“It sets an example,” Hank says. “When donors get the annual report or look at a donor wall, I’m sure one of the things they look for is, ‘Hank asked me for a gift. Is his name there?’ A couple have shared with me that they did that!”

阿什布伦纳夫妇在康考迪亚欧文分校和其他康考迪亚大学设立了一项捐赠基金，用于培训成为路德教会牧师的学生, teachers, DCEs or church musicians. Most of the giving in their bequest will go to Concordia Irvine.

“When we pass away, 这些捐赠基金将获得数额可观的奖学金，以支持学生,” Hank says. “The Lord led us to make the right investments.”

“Praise the Lord. He has a bigger shovel,” Dixie agrees.