A Legacy of “Making It Count”

“You can’t outgive God, but it’s sure fun trying.” This phrase has been a life motto for John and Anne Tompkins of Ontario, Canada. Read how the Tompkins family has intentionally focused on faithful financial giving over three generations.

 “You can’t outgive God, but it’s sure fun trying.” This phrase has been a life motto for John and Anne Tompkins of Ontario, Canada. Their lives have been marked by generosity and service, a legacy which the couple says was lived out by their parents and continues with their grown children.

“We’ve always been involved in the community in some way through our kids – coaching and volunteering,” says John. “This was modeled for us by my parents and by Anne’s parents. We both grew up in Christian homes and had good role models.” Anne’s mom played a particularly significant role in their commitment to faithful financial giving when she encouraged them early in their marriage to consider the Biblical principle of tithing.

 “You can’t outgive God, but it’s sure fun trying.”

“As a result of that conversation, Anne and I committed to give our first fruits to the Lord,” John recalls. Even when times were tough, the Tompkins remained steadfast in this commitment, and the Lord always provided abundantly for their needs. As a result, they experienced the real joy and fun that comes from faithful financial giving to the Lord, which ultimately motivated them to do more.

After John and Anne had two children of their own, they passed on this same conviction to give generously. Some of the ways they demonstrated this was by giving anonymously to various causes, and by donating Bibles in the children’s names through mission organizations each Christmas. These lessons took root in their children, who are now parents and continue to give and serve faithfully.

A funny incident occurred after the Tompkins’ son began giving 10% of his earnings, even as a teenager and young adult. His giving was so unusual that he was audited by the Canadian government which couldn’t understand why or how someone so young was giving so much! (Thankfully, he kept all his receipts and kept right on giving!).

Serving the Kingdom

John and Anne also give generously of their time. Vocationally, John worked as an employee benefits consultant and Anne as a special education and kindergarten teacher. Even amid these busy careers and raising their children, the Tompkins served in their local church – John as an elder and finance committee member and Anne as a Sunday school teacher.

Their family also became connected to missionary efforts in Uganda and all four of them traveled multiple times together to serve in schools and through various community development efforts. Serving cross-culturally further developed the Tompkins family’s love of giving, particularly for their two children. Anne shares that the family experienced “more joy of giving because we were giving to a place we knew. We could see the impact.”

Connecting to TEAM

John has served on the board of Toronto Youth for Christ for over 20 years, a role for which he is well-suited. The Tompkins were introduced to TEAM in 2017 when their friend and former pastor who was ending his term on the board for TEAM of Canada asked John to consider a TEAM board appointment. The couple visited TEAM’s international office near Chicago, Illinois to learn more about the organization and sensed God’s leading to get involved. John joined the TEAM of Canada board and was later asked to join the international TEAM board as well.

In the years since, the Tompkins have had the opportunity to meet and interact with many TEAM global workers. And while they’d love to be able to support each missionary individually, they have learned that they can make a similarly broad impact through faithful financial giving to TEAM’s Global Outreach Fund (the GO Fund).

“The GO Fund is so necessary to support the overall work of the organization,” John says. “Being in leadership, we know how much it is needed for training and supporting [our workers].”

“We often pray, ‘Lord, make it better,’ but primarily we should pray ‘Lord, make it count’.”

For this reason, John and Anne made the decision to include TEAM in their estate plans. In addition to John’s TEAM board service, and their regular annual giving, they know this type of gift is another way they can be used by God to grow His global Church.

“It’s essential that you think about your legacy…It’s like something our pastor taught us: We often pray, ‘Lord, make it better,’ but primarily we should pray ‘Lord, make it count’.”

The Tompkins’ legacy of faithful financial giving that now spans three generations is a beautiful example of that prayer: “Lord, make it count.”

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