What are SGM Cards?

HOW IT STARTED
One night while we were out to dinner at Chili’s, a couple in their mid-20’s came in with two small children who were about 9 months and 18 months old. She looked a little disheveled, with hair in a bun, no makeup, and he looked like a typical construction worker. I loved that they chose to make their relationship a priority and go on a date to dinner on a Tuesday evening, especially with two perpetually toddling little children in tow! I felt a pull from the Lord on my heart to buy their dinner. When we finished our meal, I asked our server if I could pay their bill. The server agreed and went to one of the restaurants kiosks to print out their receipt for me. Turns out, they had already paid.

As we went home that night, I couldn’t stop thinking about that opportunity. I was pretty sad that I couldn’t carry out God’s request to anonymously cover their meal. It’s something that we do fairly regularly, and we love the anonymity of it! We don’t do it for the credit or recognition, but because we love being generous.

It was at that point that I asked, “How can we use this as an evangelistic tool? If it truly is the Lord working in my heart to be anonymously generous, shouldn’t God get the credit? What if we could make simple cards for the servers to give to these people we buy meals for?” That is when we got to work designing the SGM Card.

HOW IT WORKS
An SGM Apostle requests a pack of 2, 5, 10, or 20 cards from SGM. We mail them to their house, free of charge. This person then either shares them with their group, and they all go about their life, asking God who to bless with a free meal, or a free coffee, or a gift card, etc. When God helps the giver identify a person, and moves in the givers’ heart to share their faith with that person, the giver asks their server or clerk if they can buy their meal or item. If they ARE able to buy the meal or item, then the server delivers the card alongside the notification that their bill has been paid. If their bill has not been paid, then the giver can include a gift card of some kind in the envelope of the SGM card. If the server is unwilling to deliver the card, then it’s up to the giver to decide to break the anonymity and hand deliver the card themselves.

SGM Cards are seeds of faith you can plant in the lives of others, and God gets the credit. It’s anonymous evangelism paired with generosity. To some givers, it’s considered part of their tithe/offering to the Lord’s work.

WHAT IS ON THE CARD?
We hope to have a few different designs, but for now the front of the card reads as follows, with a link on the back directing them to THIS page. The front of the card reads:

You were not an accident. Your life was no mistake.

You were thoughtfully and carefully created.

Your creator loves you.

Your creator wants a relationship with you.

SGM CARD GIVERS
In order to limit wasted cards or misuse of this ministry tool, we go through a vetting process with people before sending out cards to them to disperse at their discretion. If you would like to become a card giver, email us at cards@simplegospelmovement.com. SGM Card Givers are told of the importance of anonymity, because we don’t want to complicate things for the recipient of their card. Besides, it’s not about us, it’s about God. That’s why anonymity matters so much. In other words, if the recipient sees you, then it’s you who gave the card. But if the recipient has no face or person to associate the card with, then it’s really only God they see.