Why Pay Fast Offerings?

Rebecca Alison Titz, a young adult from Germany who now attends the Winterthur Ward in Switzerland, has a testimony of fasting and of the blessings that come from paying a generous fast offering. Rebecca grew up seeing her parents pay fast offerings, and when she started to earn her own salary, she began contributing on her own.

She says, “There have been times when I could pay a generous fast offering.” And in those times she says, “I was never hungry in body or spirit.” She explains that feelings of hunger from fasting pass quickly, but the blessings of spiritual nourishment that come from helping others are long lasting—even eternal.

Rebecca has always tried to contribute a fast offering freely. “I’ve never had a problem giving it,” she says. “I have never thought, ‘I could use this money somewhere else.’ I have always thought, ‘This is helping people who need it.’”

One of Rebecca’s friends, Jessica Schwabe of the Halberstadt Branch in Hannover, Germany, adds: “Paying fast offerings gives fasting more meaning; it makes it all come together. Fast offerings are a part of fasting not for ourselves but for others, for people in need.”