{"id":8094,"date":"2023-05-26T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-05-26T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/the-taste-of-generosity\/"},"modified":"2024-12-06T02:38:11","modified_gmt":"2024-12-06T02:38:11","slug":"taste-generosity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/stories\/taste-generosity\/","title":{"rendered":"The taste of generosity"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>As frequently as once a week, a welcome visitor shows up at the Mennonite World Conference (MWC) office in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, bearing gifts. \u201cPie man\u201d Tim Sauer\u2019s gifts involve strawberries, grapes, rhubarb, apples, sour cherries \u2013 and cheques.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI could never have been a preacher; I don\u2019t have a good singing voice; [making pies] is one thing I can do that shows love for other people,\u201d says Tim Sauer.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>He started baking pies for his parents. After they died, he continued to bake pies to thank fellow volunteers at the Mennonite Central Committee Thrift Store in Waterloo. Before long, his list of organizations and individuals grew.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Retired after a career in library science, Tim Sauer aims to make an average of one pie every other day. Frequently, he far exceeds that with closer to 360 pies in a year.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Tim Sauer has honed his technique: three pies at a time, into the oven in about an hour.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m exceptionally fussy about fillings,\u201d he says \u2013 the biggest joy and the biggest challenge. Located close to the Niagara fruit-growing region, he always uses fruit (or pumpkin): usually fresh and in season. At a local fruit market, he finds deals on bulk fruit that needs to be used right away.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The largest expenditure of time is taken up with distribution. Deliveries to 50 Kent (where MWC\u2019s offices are located) are convenient because he finds multiple Mennonite agencies under one roof.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>His gifts aren\u2019t limited to pie, though. Tim Sauer\u2019s volunteer efforts are being scaled back as his health offers some challenges, but his chequebook still gets a workout.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was born into a family that had a high work ethic. I had access to an excellent education. Other people in a different places with different parents could have done just as well, but they weren\u2019t born in a place they could get established,\u201d he says. \u201cThey have just as much right to a good life as I do.\u201d&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI agonized for years\u2026I could never feel right about how much I was giving. Eventually, I decided 50 percent is enough. The rest I can spend however I want,\u201d he says.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Tim Sauer divides his giving: half goes to Canadian organizations, half to foreign organizations, like a hospital in Tanzania, for school fees for women in Uganda and to MWC.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Due to his giving, he not only pays little income tax, he gets a sizable rebate. And the chequebook comes out again!&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere are so many opportunities. I get a kick out of giving away money.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Sometimes, his deliveries include only a cheque and an apology: \u201cI\u2019m sorry, there\u2019s no pie today.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Tim Sauer thrives on the affirmation he receives when he delivers a pie.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>One of his memorable deliveries was taking a pie made from rare, local groundcherries (physalis) to a retired pastor couple. They were thrilled by the flavours they hadn\u2019t eaten in a decade or more. Within a few months, both had died after lifetimes of ministry and service. Tim Sauer was grateful to have blessed them with this sweet memory in their last days.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Tim Sauer demonstrates that any skill can be used to glorify God.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe need to find young people with gifts and encourage them in developing those gifts,\u201d he says.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m lucky. How many people can write a cheque for $5 000? How many can give away $40 000 a year?\u201d says Tim Sauer. \u201cWhen I write a cheque, I am on \u2018cloud nine\u2019. I am blessed!\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/donate-now\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"donate\" height=\"300\" data-src=\"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/donate.jpg\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 810px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 810\/300;float:left\" width=\"810\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" class=\"lazyload\"><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As frequently as once a week, a welcome visitor shows up at the Mennonite World Conference (MWC) office in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, bearing gifts. \u201cPie man\u201d Tim Sauer\u2019s gifts involve strawberries, grapes, rhubarb, apples, sour cherries \u2013 and cheques.&nbsp; \u201cI could never have been a preacher; I don\u2019t have a good singing voice; [making pies] [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11291,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"network":[],"eventcategory":[],"class_list":["post-8094","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The taste of generosity - Mennonite World Conference<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/stories\/taste-generosity\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The taste of generosity - Mennonite World Conference\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As frequently as once a week, a welcome visitor shows up at the Mennonite World Conference (MWC) office in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, bearing gifts. \u201cPie man\u201d Tim Sauer\u2019s gifts involve strawberries, grapes, rhubarb, apples, sour cherries \u2013 and cheques.&nbsp; \u201cI could never have been a preacher; I don\u2019t have a good singing voice; [making pies] [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/stories\/taste-generosity\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Mennonite World Conference\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MennoniteWorldConference\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-05-26T00:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-12-06T02:38:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/donate.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"940\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"348\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"mennworldcon\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/stories\/taste-generosity\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/stories\/taste-generosity\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"mennworldcon\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/11f6ae0d7d1868ba20a1cc27f067c836\"},\"headline\":\"The taste of generosity\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-05-26T00:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-12-06T02:38:11+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/stories\/taste-generosity\/\"},\"wordCount\":618,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/stories\/taste-generosity\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/donate.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/stories\/taste-generosity\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/stories\/taste-generosity\/\",\"name\":\"The taste of generosity - Mennonite World Conference\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/stories\/taste-generosity\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/stories\/taste-generosity\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/donate.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-05-26T00:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-12-06T02:38:11+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/stories\/taste-generosity\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/stories\/taste-generosity\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/stories\/taste-generosity\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/donate.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/donate.jpg\",\"width\":940,\"height\":348},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/stories\/taste-generosity\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The taste of generosity\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/\",\"name\":\"Mennonite World Conference\",\"description\":\"A communion of Anabaptist-related churches\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/#organization\"},\"alternateName\":\"MWC\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Mennonite World Conference\",\"alternateName\":\"MWC\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/MWC_Sig_Blue_Horiz_webheader1-logo.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/MWC_Sig_Blue_Horiz_webheader1-logo.svg\",\"width\":786,\"height\":82,\"caption\":\"Mennonite World Conference\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MennoniteWorldConference\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/mennonite-world-conference-mwc\/\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/mwcmm\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/mwccmm\",\"https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/mwcmm.bsky.social\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/11f6ae0d7d1868ba20a1cc27f067c836\",\"name\":\"mennworldcon\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/06fdc0dc81c157dfdb82ec42f252178a22307808988d22c043f9eb96f1e0fe80?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/06fdc0dc81c157dfdb82ec42f252178a22307808988d22c043f9eb96f1e0fe80?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/06fdc0dc81c157dfdb82ec42f252178a22307808988d22c043f9eb96f1e0fe80?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"mennworldcon\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/stories\/author\/mennworldcon\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The taste of generosity - Mennonite World Conference","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/stories\/taste-generosity\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The taste of generosity - Mennonite World Conference","og_description":"As frequently as once a week, a welcome visitor shows up at the Mennonite World Conference (MWC) office in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, bearing gifts. \u201cPie man\u201d Tim Sauer\u2019s gifts involve strawberries, grapes, rhubarb, apples, sour cherries \u2013 and cheques.&nbsp; \u201cI could never have been a preacher; I don\u2019t have a good singing voice; [making pies] [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/stories\/taste-generosity\/","og_site_name":"Mennonite World Conference","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MennoniteWorldConference","article_published_time":"2023-05-26T00:00:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-12-06T02:38:11+00:00","og_image":[{"width":940,"height":348,"url":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/donate.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"mennworldcon","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/stories\/taste-generosity\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/stories\/taste-generosity\/"},"author":{"name":"mennworldcon","@id":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/11f6ae0d7d1868ba20a1cc27f067c836"},"headline":"The taste of generosity","datePublished":"2023-05-26T00:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2024-12-06T02:38:11+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/stories\/taste-generosity\/"},"wordCount":618,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/stories\/taste-generosity\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/donate.jpg","inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/stories\/taste-generosity\/","url":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/stories\/taste-generosity\/","name":"The taste of generosity - Mennonite World Conference","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/stories\/taste-generosity\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/stories\/taste-generosity\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/donate.jpg","datePublished":"2023-05-26T00:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2024-12-06T02:38:11+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/stories\/taste-generosity\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/stories\/taste-generosity\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/stories\/taste-generosity\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/donate.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/donate.jpg","width":940,"height":348},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/stories\/taste-generosity\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The taste of generosity"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/","name":"Mennonite World Conference","description":"A communion of Anabaptist-related churches","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/#organization"},"alternateName":"MWC","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/#organization","name":"Mennonite World Conference","alternateName":"MWC","url":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/MWC_Sig_Blue_Horiz_webheader1-logo.svg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/MWC_Sig_Blue_Horiz_webheader1-logo.svg","width":786,"height":82,"caption":"Mennonite World Conference"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MennoniteWorldConference","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/mennonite-world-conference-mwc\/","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/mwcmm\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/mwccmm","https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/mwcmm.bsky.social"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/11f6ae0d7d1868ba20a1cc27f067c836","name":"mennworldcon","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/06fdc0dc81c157dfdb82ec42f252178a22307808988d22c043f9eb96f1e0fe80?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/06fdc0dc81c157dfdb82ec42f252178a22307808988d22c043f9eb96f1e0fe80?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/06fdc0dc81c157dfdb82ec42f252178a22307808988d22c043f9eb96f1e0fe80?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"mennworldcon"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org"],"url":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/stories\/author\/mennworldcon\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8094","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8094"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8094\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11291"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8094"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8094"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8094"},{"taxonomy":"network","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/network?post=8094"},{"taxonomy":"eventcategory","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mwc-cmm.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/eventcategory?post=8094"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}