The pastor had turned deathly pale, stumbling over his words as he tried to speak. Every eye in the room was fixed on him, many filled with anger and outrage. Little did he know that this was just the beginning.
It all started when Andrew, a 65-year-old retired businessman, joined the White Cross Church and took over as the new pastor. Andrew, a seemingly nice charming person, had a mysterious personality that was hard to gauge.
When Andrew took charge, Grandma Helen became his point of contact, helping him navigate the change and ensuring a smooth transition. Grandma Helen was a sweet elderly lady who had been very active at her local church. But things started to take a different turn when the old pastor retired.
Helen had joined the White Cross Church some 20 years ago when she and her husband Charles moved into the neighbourhood. They had met working for the same NGO and built a comfortable life together, deeply rooted in their community.
Helen was always there to help Andrew. Unlike the old pastor, Andrew preferred to work in silence; he was oddly reserved. Helen respected his nature but had no idea how things were about to change.
One day, Andrew drove to the church late. He entered the building, realising he had forgotten the materials for the morning ceremony. He instructed Helen to get them for him, relying on her generosity and willingness to help. Helen, ever the kind soul, agreed without hesitation.
Little did she know that day would change her life forever. As she left to get the materials, her car was hit by a speeding truck. Helen was immediately taken to the hospital, where she was in critical condition.
The accident changed her life forever. Helen’s service to her church came to an abrupt halt at the age of 73 when the doctor confirmed that she had broken her back in the car accident.
Confined to her home due to her injury and deteriorating health, she repeatedly reached out to her church, inviting them to visit her at home. She used to miss playing with the kids and pampering them.
But despite all her efforts, her invitations were either declined or ignored as no one came to visit. Helen never expected such behaviour from the church members. The old pastor would have definitely paid her a visit.
The church members regarded the former pastor as a member of their family. Fernando, the former pastor, was a man of high moral standards. He was a generous man who dedicated his whole life to helping others.
Even though he was getting older, he would frequently conduct at-home sessions for members who couldn’t attend because of illness, old age, or any other reason.
Helen’s husband Charles had passed away at an early age, leaving her to cope with grief by throwing herself into church service. Despite her inability to visit the church in person, Helen often financially contributed to the church, even though she could not visit in person.
Her only close church member was Victor. Helen and Victor met each other at a christmas dinner. Victor was a retired police officer who used to often visit the church. Helen and Victor became good friends as the years passed.
They used to cook together and teach kids hymns on Sundays. One day, Victor called Helen. His voice trembled with unusual sadness. Concerned, she asked, “Victor, what’s wrong?”
Victor sighed heavily. “Helen, I’ve been observing something very troubling about the new pastor. His behaviour has been… strange.”Helen, perplexed, pressed him further. “Strange how? What’s been going on?”
Victor took a deep breath. “Yesterday, he fired James, because he couldn’t pay extra money for the church service due to a financial crisis.” Helen’s heart sank. She knew James well; he was a dedicated worker and a kind soul.
“Last week,” Victor continued, “I saw the pastor meeting with some shady-looking men late at night in the church’s back office. They exchanged envelopes, and when they saw me, they quickly left. It felt… wrong.”
Victor often visited Helen and shared stories about Andrew. He once mentioned that the pastor had just come back from his third trip to the vatican in the last 2 years paid with church funds.
Helen was surprised, remembering the old pastor only flew to Vatican City once in his entire service period. “I’ve heard rumours that the pastor has been pocketing some of the donations.”
People have seen him driving a new car and wearing expensive clothes. It doesn’t add up,” said Victor. He told Helen about how the church was slowly losing its charm, not being maintained.
Helen’s mind raced. She decided to find out the truth. One day, Victor informed the church members that Helen’s health was deteriorating rapidly. Helen, always practical, decided to make arrangements for her eventual passing.
When the church members heard about this, they went silent. Many of them were surprised. They had not heard about Helen in a long time. It turned out that the new pastor had not informed anyone about the accident.
Out of nowhere, the new pastor announced, “We will honour her wish.” A meeting was planned for the following Sunday at Helen’s cottage. The church council and the pastor gathered in the living room and waited for Helen.
A few minutes later, Helen entered the room in her wheelchair. She looked weak, and her saggy old eyes appeared sad.“Welcome, everyone,” she said. “I am grateful that all of you have taken the time to come here and listen to me.”
“As Victor would have informed you earlier, my health has not been at its best lately, and before it gets worse, I just want to fulfil my last wish. I want my funeral to be held at the White Cross Church,” she announced.
As the crowd started to discuss the arrangements, the pastor walked up to Helen and whispered, “Can I have a word with you in private?”
Helen looked at him, confused, and then said, “Sure, is everything fine?” The pastor nodded as they moved to the other end of the room.
The pastor then brought out a bouquet and gave it to her. “I’m so sorry, Helen, that I couldn’t come see you earlier,” he remarked. “I trust that you are doing well. I’ve got these for you.”
Helen was pleased to see the pastor being so kind. The pastor continued, “remember all that the church has done for you over the years, and remember to take your responsibility and do your part. Don’t you think it is time to repay it with respect?”
Helen paused and then said, “I do not understand what you mean.” The pastor then took out the Bible and started to read, “Lay your treasure in heaven, For where you place your treasure, there your soul will dwell.”
It turned out that there had been numerous speculations about the amount of money Helen had amassed during her lifetime. She supposedly belonged to a wealthy family. It seemed that word of this had also reached the pastor.
The pastor quickly ended his speech as Victor approached and asked to see Helen. Helen gradually turned to face Victor, her eyes filled with anger. The pastor smiled and said, “Kindly excuse me.”
Worried, Victor asked Helen if she was okay. Helen told him about what the new pastor had said. Victor got really angry but Helen calmed him down and reassured him that his karma would make him pay.
Helen continued to consider what the pastor had said for several days. She reflected on her contributions to the White Cross community and despised the pastor’s greed. She wondered if any further contributions would go to the church or end up in the pastor’s pocket.
Three months later, Victor hurriedly showed up at the church and asked that everyone assemble in the prayer meeting room. He broke the news to everyone— with a look of deep sorrow on his face—that Helen had departed for heaven.
Then he asked that they begin making funeral arrangements for Helen and reminded everyone of her final request. The council members’ expressions were conflicted. While some people began to weep, others didn’t appear to bother.
The day of the funeral finally came. Everyone gathered there to give Helen their final respects. Victor fulfilled her final desires by making the arrangements. He wanted to make sure he fulfilled his friend’s wishes in every way.
“You may not recognize this funeral service from previous funerals you have attended,” announced Victor. “This will be an open microphone funeral. Anyone who wishes to speak is welcome to do so.”
“You can talk about your friendship with Helen, share an anecdote about her, or say anything else you feel will honour her memory,” he continued. Despite the initial 30-minute estimate, the service went on for more than two hours, and not a single individual left before the end.
Victor did his best to get through the service for his late friend, and people stepped up and talked about how much Helen meant to them.
Some children also sang hymns in her memory. At least one third of the approximately one hundred attendees approached the microphone at the funeral service.
Humour, tears, and embraces were shared. After a few weeks, the moment had come to begin distributing Helen’s bequests. The act of reading the will in front of the church was requested by Helen.
She had designated Victor as her executor to convey her desires and wanted her will to be read at the church. This time, although not many people attended the meeting, the pastor turned up early.
The pastor rushed to the front seat, looking like he was actively salivating over his good fortune. Another motive to go was that, according to Victor’s encouragement, there had been a lot of talk in the church around the rumours that Helen’s will included some “surprises.” While reading the will, it became evident that Helen’s kindness persisted even after she passed away. Some of the less fortunate families of the community received a part of her wealth and belongings.
The pastor noted the exponential increase in Helen’s charity and listened to the other bequests with a polite but rising expectation. And then, it was finally time for the church to get its due.
The pastor’s face lit up with joy as he heard Victor announce his name. “Before I proceed, I would like to read out a letter that Helen especially crafted for the White Cross Church,” announced Victor. He pulled out a letter from his pocket and started reading.
“Not a single person from the church has ever given me a call, paid me a visit, or written me a note to let me know they were thinking of me during the last ten years. For years and years, I put in a lot of effort on your behalf when you needed me.”
“But you all pretended that I didn’t exist when I needed you and your church. I was extremely disappointed when no one paid me a visit.” However, I’ve finally discovered the cause: our pastor never shared my teachings with you all or told our church about what had happened to me.”
“Only when I wanted to arrange my funeral did the pastor visit my house, and all he asked was that I should remember his church in my will. That’s when my suspicions about the pastor were confirmed.”
“I had previously written my will, which did include a tithe for the church, amounting to sixty percent of my entire estate.” I used to always think that the church was my second home.
Everyone in the audience gasped. A woman seated amidst the masses whispered to her spouse, “Have you heard that? 60%? Embarrassed, her husband made a suggestion that she should keep quiet.
The letter went on, “But I changed it because of the pastor’s behaviour.” The church has never loved me as much as I did, I realised after I gradually began to watch Andrew’s behaviour.
The letter continued to outline all of the pastor’s materialism and bad conduct. She explained that he had just expressed interest once more in an attempt to con her out of her money.
And then she dropped the big bombshell, “Here is my gift”: “One Cent as a Bequest to the Pastor” and “One Cent as the Bequest to my beloved White Cross Church.”
The pastor sat there with a profoundly lifeless expression. The best was yet to come. “There is one last bequest listed in the will. This one is for a charity named New Horizons,” said Victor.
The crowd had no idea about the charity, but there was one face in the crowd that recognized it. It was the pastor, and his expression gave it away. His face turned red with anger.
New Horizons provided free food and clothing banks, foster child assistance programs, home delivery of pre-cooked meals for elderly people confined to their homes, legal aid, and other social services. But why was the pastor so angry?
Victor then told the members that the charity was run by the pastor’s sister, whom he had a fallout with over a property dispute. The pastor had kicked her out of their paternal house after their parents passed away. Pastor’s sister Tiffany was just sixteen years old when her parents died in a tragic car accident. Andrew was always self centred and money minded.
When Tiffany told Andrew she wanted to move out and needed money to study abroad Andrew refused to help her. Eventually, he kicked her out of the house.
The pastor had a dark past. It was discovered that his business had struck a dead end when he got heavily involved in money laundering. Due to his behaviour, his wife left him too.
The whole room was shocked by what happened. Murmurs could be heard everywhere as everyone began to discuss the pastor. The pastor’s face turned red with anger and shame.
Just as Victor was about to announce the bequest amount left for the charity, something astonishing happened. The door slammed, and Victor smiled. Everybody looked at the door, but nobody was there.
Suddenly, the sound of tires screeching echoed through the room. In a split second, Helen appeared in her wheelchair, smiling. The audience was in shock at what they had just witnessed.
Someone exclaimed, “Helen’s alive, Helen’s alive!” as Helen wheeled up to the podium. The pastor’s face turned pale. He could not believe his eyes.
Helen had been alive the entire time. To impart a lesson to the pastor and the church members, she had staged her death. Helen accepted the microphone from Victor with a smile on her face.
“I know this is far from what you thought it would be,” Helen said, facing the pastor, “but this is what you deserve for your misconduct. You are a dishonest man, and we are all here today as a result of your actions.”
“When I found out about the pastor’s misconduct and strange behaviour, I decided to look into the matter. Victor and I started to investigate the matter”, she continued.
She then added, “We also found out that Andrew not only turned his back on me but also on the entire trust. He was transferring the church funds to an offshore account which was funding his secret business that none of us knew about.”
“I would like to declare today that, upon my passing, I would like to leave the New Horizons Charity with a legacy of 20% of my whole estate. I’ll keep working for the charity’s beneficiaries until the day I die,” Helen announced.
Helen and Victor had been making regular donations to the charity ever since the church ceased to reply to Helen. She knew that if she hadn’t staged her death and coordinated everything beforehand, no one would show up for the funeral.
Returning the microphone to Victor, she stated, “This is the greatest gift I can give to the White Cross Church – a life lesson to remember.”
For the remaining years of her life, Helen led a happy and peaceful life despite her inability to walk. As Victor assumed leadership of the charity with the pastor’s sister, New Horizons reached new heights in its efforts to help those in need.
The church, on the other hand, faced a reckoning. The congregation, inspired by Helen’s bravery and integrity, demanded accountability and transparency from their leader.
The pastor, exposed for his greed and dishonesty, was eventually removed from his position. The church underwent a period of introspection and transformation, returning to its roots of compassion, service, and true spiritual leadership.
Helen’s devotion to her faith and its members remained a pillar of strength in her life. As she grew older, her commitment to God never wavered, demonstrating her staunch belief and unwavering spiritual devotion.
Helen’s legacy lived on, not just through her charitable contributions, but through the renewed spirit of the White Cross Church and the countless lives touched by New Horizons Charity.