Stories of faith shared at annual tea party

Women in fancy dress, men serving them fine tea with dessert and fellowship for a cause. That was the recipe for the scene at First Methodist in Clinton Saturday as the community came together for Tim’s Gift annual tea party.

Started before the era of Covid by fellow Tim’s Gift member Becky Spell and her sister. The pair wanted to bring the joy they experienced from a similar event they attended in Greensboro to Sampson County. While the fellowship hall was filled with sounds of laughter, conversation and the blissful feeling of high class tea time, the event’s focus was on something deeper —fundraising.

As it’s been since the beginning, the entire tea party was completely community-driven through sponsorships, donations and volunteers. With those donations are always items auctioned off during the event, and the proceeds earned go toward helping the Tim’s Gift Hope Project, which helps to aid in people’s medical expenses.

This year’s featured items were baskets handcrafted by members of the Amish country. By the end of the auction, all items were sold, earning Tim’s Gift a total this year of $6,250.

Throughout the tea party, Spell served as co-emcee, sharing inspirational words on the other reason they host the event and why Tim’s Gift exists, to serve and praise God. To showcase the power of faith, Spell introduced a special guest during the tea party that shared her testimony as a living witness who received aid through the work of Tim’s Gift.

“My name is Jenny Loaiza, and I just have to say that after coming in to visit Miss Becky, and Tim’s Gift to get help, they have become my angels,” she said. “My mom, she’s 88 years old, and she has schizophrenia and for the first time she had pneumonia. Then, after two weeks, she fell, and she had to have a big surgery.

“After another two weeks, she had to have another surgery, and so, we’ve had to pay a lot of money,” she added. “The cost was around $9,000 because the surgery was expensive, and in Ecuador, where we’re from, it’s hard to find a job. My brother, he takes care of her, and he came crying to me, and he said, I don’t have the money to pay, and I can’t help it.”

It was in that dire time of need that Loaiza approached Spell and Tim’s Gift, and she said the support she received changed her family’s lives.

“I sent him so many dollars, all that I could, but after Miss Becky was in my life, I didn’t have to fear any longer because she helped me with money,” Loaiza said, tears rolling from her eyes. “She told me not to worry, I just need to believe because God is with me. She was right, because God sent me so many things after that.”

She continued, “I just have to say, God, thank you for everything, because my faith was down, as I had too many problems in my life. But through it all, God stayed with me, and these tears I cry are because I’m happy now. He was with me, close to me, and I can say to everybody, God is here, God is coming, I can feel it because my faith is stronger than ever before.”

Thanks to the help she received from Tim’s Gift, Loaiza said her mom is doing much better.

“My mom is walking now, speaking mentally, she’s still not fully OK because she has schizophrenia,” she said. “That’s all right because I can see her and I can have her maybe a few years more thanks to Tim’s Gift and all the help God sent me. My mom, she said to me in Spanish, can you please tell her (Spell) thank you so much, and I said I will. She’s happy now, and I’m happy because God blessed us with Miss Becky. So again, I say thank you so much for everything, and remember, when you give something with all your heart, God gives you back double all the time.”

It’s testimonies like Loaiza’s that Spell said is not only the reason they hold events such as the tea party but is the guiding light for all Tim’s Gift strives to accomplish.

”It’s not me; it is all God. We just have to be willing servants,” Spell said. “When she came to me, and I knew I had seen her, but I didn’t really know her name. So when she walked in the door, and before she said a word, I said, Welcome, ma’am. I’m so glad you’re here, what can we do? She then rushed toward me, fell on her knees, grabbed me, and she began praying and praising God. And I can tell you, we don’t get that often.

“We can give one another love, we don’t have to give money all the time, but all of you here today are a part of Jenny’s story,” she said. “For those of you who gave and stopped by to support, and encouraged people to come, we wanted you to know today, here at this tea party, that this is what it’s all about. What we earn, it goes back to the community, its helps other people, and this is a living testament of how what you give allows us to achieve.”