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Last Post 12/01/2010 10:30 AM by  Boyd Badten
1993 Tithing Testimony - From Maydell Goulart
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Boyd Badten
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--
12/01/2010 10:30 AM
    1993 Tithing Testimony

    On Valentine's Day, 1993, I was crossing the parking lot on my way to
    a Sunday Service at the North Glastonbury Teaching Center in Montana
    when my foot slipped on some hidden ice. My body twisted to the side
    as I fell heavily onto my left hip. I knew I was in trouble when I
    heard a loud pop as I hit the ground. I wasn't able to move my
    injured leg and was grateful when a friend appeared a few minutes
    later and assisted me to stand up and help me hop over to my car so I
    could go home. As I had no medical insurance I resisted being taken
    to the hospital until that evening when the pain had become
    intolerable.
    I was taken to the local hospital in Livingston 25 miles away, had
    x-rays taken and then put to bed overnight with my leg in traction.
    The following day I was transferred to the Bozeman Deaconess Hospital
    in another city where I was operated on at 5:30 PM that evening,
    thirty hours after the initial accident The ball of the left femur
    had split wide open. It was removed and replaced with a steel ball
    (which unfortunately turned out to be a major nuisance as it sets off
    all the bells whenever I go through airport security and then have to
    be pulled over for further inspection).
    Two days later the surgeon paid me a bedside visit. After the
    initial preliminaries he then told me that he had some bad news.
    According to the x-rays taken at the first hospital my right thigh was
    riddled with cancer to the point where I would need to have my right
    leg amputated. I found that hard to believe because I had no symptoms
    of any problems with my right thigh and suggested that he take a new
    set of x-rays. Much to his chagrin the new x-rays showed a perfectly
    healthy leg. Evidently a shadow was cast on my right thigh on the
    first x-rays causing a misdiagnosis. Though the doctor was
    embarrassed and quitre red faced by his mistake, I was extremely
    relieved.
    Before I was released from the hospital I was paid a visit by
    personnel from the accounting office. Because I had no insurance to
    cover expenses incurred I was given the option to pay fifty dollars a
    month minimum towards the balance owed to the hospital. I had a fixed
    income of $1,200 per month from which I was tithing 10% that amounted
    to $120 – 9% to the church and 1% to the Teaching Center. I had a
    home and a car to maintain so there wasn't very much left over each
    month for extras but I felt I could manage $50 a month towards the
    hospital bill.
    I had entered the hospital on a Monday afternoon and was released
    Thursday morning to return to my home. I had been there for 3 full
    days. Fortunately I had a friend in the community who volunteered to
    stay with me until I was able to function once more on my own. Three
    weeks later I was able to release her services with my utmost
    gratitude and a modest gratuity.
    In the meantime the bills began to filter in and I was in a state of
    shock. The hospital bill alone came to over twelve thousand dollars
    and another $6-8,000 for the doctors, the two ambulances and other
    medical fees A letter from the hospital came a few weeks later to
    notify me that after a period of three months I would be charged 10%
    interest on the balance. The interest on the balance of over twelve
    thousand dollars was two times greater than the agreed upon monthly
    payment of $50. At that rate my debt, without additional resources,
    would be increasing instead of decreasing. All I could do at this
    point was to put the whole mess in God's hands and let him work it
    out.
    Some people would have considered the most practical solution would
    be to use the tithe money of $120 a month towards paying off the
    hospital bill. But I considered the tithe money to be an investment
    that would pay for itself. To me it is a sacred commitment that comes
    before all other debts and I believe in God's promises. It has worked
    for me in the past and I was sure it would also work for me in the
    present.
    In I was contacted by Church Headquarters to see if I could
    accommodate a lady from England who needed a place to stay for two
    months. I was delighted to rent the lady a room as it would give me
    almost $500 to apply towards my medical debt. She was a very
    interesting person who had studied astrology and the Kabbalah
    extensively.
    She did a horary reading on the possibilities of receiving insurance
    money to cover my medical costs as well as the possibility of selling
    a 50% interest in a house in California shared with my former husband.
    According to her readings I might get a small amount of insurance the
    following year but I wouldn't be selling the California home at all.
    It wasn't a very reassuring prognosis. Nor was it very accurate.
    The insurance reading she gave seemed to be confirmed when I was
    contacted by a freelance insurance agent representing the company that
    had sold the Teaching Center its insurance policy. The man was quite
    abrasive in his attitude. He informed me that the policy did not have
    medical coverage so I would not be getting any money from the
    insurance company. And further more he could tell just by looking at
    me that I was faking it and if I tried to sue the company I would lose
    my shirt. I could hardly wait to get this agent out the door fast
    enough. Needless to say, the Teaching Center no longer does business
    with this particular insurance company.
    After the English lady left I was asked by Church Headquarters to
    house two professors from the State of Michigan who were doing a study
    on the church and who later published a book on their research. They
    were interesting gentlemen and I enjoyed their company very much. I
    also appreciated the additional $600 I received as compensation for
    their accommodations which I applied to my slowly shrinking medical
    debt.
    I was then asked to take on the job of assigning rental spaces with
    Glastonbury residents for out of state conferees attending the
    quarterly conferences. I received a waiver of conference fees for
    this service which was another assistance towards my financial
    situation. I also rented out rooms to Summit University students and
    to conferees that brought additional monies in to help pay off my
    debts.
    A real bonanza occurred when in late summer I was notified that there
    had been three insurance companies, unknown to myself, involved in the
    location where I had sustained my injury and that two of them had
    medical coverage. I would be receiving in the mail checks for $5,000
    each, a total of $10,000. This was a mighty miracle and made a huge
    dent in my overall debt.
    I had a few set backs in the fall when the transmission went out on
    my automobile and had to be rebuilt and I also had to replace all my
    tires which amounted overall to around $1,000. Then in October I had
    to scrape up the money to travel to California when my 93 year old
    father passed on.
    In November I got the best news of all when I was informed that the
    California house was finally sold after being on the market for four
    years. I received a check on January 10, 1994, the date of the much
    heralded Capricorn mega-conjunction, for my half share amounting to
    $119,000. After taxes and a 10% tithe was subtracted from the total I
    was left free of all debt and with a capital gain of $75,000 in the
    bank. It took only eleven months to accomplish this great victory.
    Who would have thought when it all began that it would end on such a
    high note. I didn't! All praise to God!
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