Givers

Janice Munemitsu’s rich heritage of generosity

Janice Munemitsu knows a lot about generosity. As a board member for NCF California, Janice inspires others to experience the freedom of a generous life. But first, she had to find that freedom herself.

“I was at an event for a ministry that I had never given to,” Janice says. “And I heard amazing stories of transformation that inspired me to give. When they handed out pledge cards, I felt God was calling me to write down an amount that was far beyond my mindset.”

Janice calls this life-defining moment her “add-a-zero-and-change-a-digit” story. She had been laid off recently, and the amount she pledged was a stretch for her financially. But she’d been raised in a generous family.

“I thought, ‘Well, I heard God pretty clearly, so I’m going to trust him,’” she says.

How did she become this generous?

Janice grew up learning generosity from her parents and immigrant grandparents who had come to America with virtually nothing. Once on their feet as farmers, they sought to help others with necessities and employment. Even when they had little, they gave much. Janice witnessed this through the two generations that preceded her.

Today, Janice does a lot to help others develop their own giving stories.

“I thought, ‘Okay, Lord, you’ve got this. This is a story to tell.’”

Janice’s defining moment happened at a JOG – a 21-hour, overnight experience for people to explore generosity. “It is a very moving experience that is really hard to describe,” Janice says. The format consists of a conversation about Scripture, pastoral teachings, readings on different topics, and watching video testimonies from givers who share how God’s generosity is at work in their lives.

Janice says the JOG focuses on spurring a conversation about generosity, which is something most people don’t talk about outside of the context of how much or where to give. Instead, during the JOG, they talked “about the heart and the why of generosity,” she says.

The most surprising part? “People are surprised how much fun it is to talk about something they never talk about,” Janice says. “I have seen over and over again where families, and husbands and wives, have become so much more well-aligned in their giving. And I’ve seen families walk away with great ideas for how to raise their children or their grandchildren to be more generous.”

Janice has seen parents open Giving Funds at the National Christian Foundation for their adult children at Thanksgiving and fund them with money to grant to charity, instead of spending the money on Christmas gifts. Then, at Christmas, they share their stories of giving rather than focusing on presents, Janice says. “This way, parents and grandparents are passing on their legacy of giving, and the children can see what their faith really means to them.” Seeing people experience the freedom of generosity is Janice’s favorite part of her job.

“At one of my first JOGs, there was a gentleman who had inherited wealth,” says Janice. “There was something holding him back from complete joy in terms of being generous.”

“As we talked about what things God was asking us to release, it occurred to him that guilt was holding him back from the joy of giving.” God freed him in that moment.

“Talk about a tremendous gift that God gave him, to be free of that!” she says.

“It’s about the freedom to be who God called us to be; it’s about freedom to not be tied to the stuff of this world but to really invest in kingdom work. It’s the freedom to really enjoy more intimacy with the Lord because he’s now included in our plans.”

“It’s about the freedom to be who God called us to be, it’s about freedom to not be tied to the stuff of this world ….”

Janice says she’s learned that generosity can bring more intimacy with the Lord, and that’s important. “Being generous has nothing to do with demographics, or what you have or don’t have,” she says. “It has to do with your heart. I’m trusting that God is growing me in this area and that more and more I am able to abide in him. That’s where the good fruit will be harvested in my life. When I abide in him, I’m really able to be generous because he is so generous to me.”

Watch the video to learn more about how Janice learned from her generous parents on their California farm.

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