Only managers while we’re here

By Dustin Moody “I call it an avocation,” Dan said of his years spent buying, managing and selling small rental properties across the country. A civil engineer by trade who spent his career working on the California freeway system, Dan and his wife, Cindy, have used their interest in housing to benefit Bible translation in […]

By Dustin Moody

“I call it an avocation,” Dan said of his years spent buying, managing and selling small rental properties across the country. A civil engineer by trade who spent his career working on the California freeway system, Dan and his wife, Cindy, have used their interest in housing to benefit Bible translation in a number of ways.

“Cindy worked for a dentist, and we were good friends with him and his wife, so we all started buying apartments in the 1970s,” Dan said. “It’s amazing over the years the way the Lord has brought properties to us from time to time. People who know you invest will get in touch with you no matter where you are or what you’re doing.”

Some of those same people eventually encouraged Dan to serve on the Wycliffe housing board, overseeing properties owned by Wycliffe and partner organizations. The couple had known about Wycliffe for years through personal friends serving in Bible translation, and Dan was thrilled to use one of his “hobbies” for an organization they loved.

But the excitement of real estate eventually wore off, and Dan and Cindy recognized that it would be easier for them to divide the remaining properties with their friends rather than leave it for their children to do. Now in retirement with grown children and growing grandchildren, they began looking for ways to unload their investments and shed the responsibilities and headaches of property management.

As they began selling, Dan and Cindy set up a trust in their home state, consolidating their estate plans and using some of the proceeds for ministry—as well as their grandchildren’s education. With only a few properties left, their oldest son challenged Dan and Cindy on whether they had considered tithing on the equity that had built up in the trust and the properties.

“He really wasn’t suggesting it; he just said ‘Have you thought about it?’” Dan explained. “We had never thought about tithing on our estate that we are leaving for the kids.”

As the primary trustee on his parents’ estate, Dan’s son was looking ahead to where his parents would want their resources used for the greatest impact.

Dan and Cindy began looking into a part gift/part sale through a charitable lead trust, using the proceeds from the sale of their final properties for both their personal trust and to support Wycliffe and the ministry of Bible translation. They met with Karen Anderson, a gift planning associate with Wycliffe Foundation, about the mechanics of the process.

“It just kind of came together, and it so happened that the equity we had in that last apartment was just about 10 percent of our estate,” Dan shared.

“People think ‘I give it away and that’s it,’” Karen said, “but the return you get back is an added blessing, along with the ability it gives you to provide more to ministry.”

With the sale complete, Dan and Cindy now receive a return from the trust as well as tax deductions for their support of Bible translation.

“I would encourage people to do it,” Dan said. “We feel blessed of the Lord, and it’s a great way to provide and givesome back. We’re only managers of God’s property while we’re here anyway. And I think the Lord brings all kinds of circumstances in your lives that cause you to consider things and then go ahead and do them … when you think about it and start praying about it, then it’s pretty easy.”

To learn more about a charitable trust and “giving it twice,” visit http://wycliffefoundation.org