Touching a Life or Two Through Giving
You know how each of us is given certain gifts? Some people are brainy, some are good looking, some are wealthy, some are good with others. You know that old saw that goes:
“Heaven is where the police are British, the cooks are Italian, the lovers are French, the mechanics are German and it’s all organized by the Swiss. Hell is where the cooks are British, the mechanics are French, the lovers are Swiss, the police are German, and it’s all organized by the Italians.”
I’ve had some incredibly good meals in Britain, but you get the idea. It’s as if certain countries have gifts too; a gift that is so evident and specific that the country is famous for it. What’s America’s gift? Some Europeans might claim it was loud vacationers with loud clothes, but most people know that’s really only Bostonians when they travel. No, I think America has been given the gift of wealth. The question is, what are we doing with it? How are we using our ‘talent’? If we’re burying it (keeping it for ourselves), that’s not going to go down well with God (Matt 25:14-30).
Christmas is coming. It will be nice for most of us; not so nice for some. For the people in the first group, here are some opportunities to make it nicer for some folks in the second group:
Give shoes
Anne Jackson (twitter @FlowerDust) is working with Soles4Souls to provide 50,000 pairs of shoes for people who have no footwear.
Watch the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wd431iyMKVM
Nashville-based Soles4Souls(TM) facilitates the donations of both new and used shoes, which are used to aid the hurting worldwide. Since its inception, Soles4Souls has distributed more than 3.5 million pairs (or one pair every 23 seconds) to people in 61 countries, including Honduras, Romania, Thailand, and the Sudan. The charity has been featured on CNN Headline News, NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams, ABC News, FOX, CBS, and hundreds of regional outlets around North America. Soles4Souls is a 501(c)(3) recognized by the IRS; donating parties are eligible for tax advantages. Visit www.giveshoes.org for more information.
Give school uniforms.
Shaun King (twitter @ShaunKing), pastor of the new Courageous Church has started a site called http://500uniforms.org/ to try to help students of Bethune Elementary School in Atlanta, GA – 98% of whom live below the national poverty level – get a school uniform and a toy for Christmas.
Watch the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_e1d9atkPZA
Give water.
Living Water is a Christian organization that is trying to provide clean water to communities that can’t afford to drill their own wells. Sierra Leone, Liberia, Namibia, Brazil, India, Sudan, Ethiopia and dozens more countries currently – 6,500 projects so far.
Watch the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NxFNlOFr9I
Give freedom from slavery.
More people are in slavery now than ever before in the World’s history. More people than were drawn from Africa over all 400 years of trans-Atlantic slave trading. 27,000,000 slaves. A number so large that it seems inconceivable today. To be “trafficked” is to be deceived or taken against your will, bought, sold and transported into slavery for sexual exploitation, sweat shops, child brides, circuses, sacrificial worship, forced begging, sale of human organs, farm labour, domestic servitude. A staggering betrayal of the innocent. Help Stop the Traffik.
Watch the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxBcjSKD6gM
Mike
Dave Travis
Rose
Thanks for this great synopsis. (BTW, “No Name” near bottom of your list was Mel Lawrenz, Elmbrook...
November 13th, 2008 at 2:11 pm
Bravo, Steve – excellent post!!! (But then again, most of yours usually are…;-) )
Here are 3 more wonderful ways to be a blessing at Christmas…
(Suggestion: At Christmastime, make the donations “in honor of” people to whom one would like to give a Christmas gift, but who, like most of us, really don’t need any more material things. Then make a card to give that person at Christmas, explaining what was given “in their honor”, and including the ministry contact info in case the recipient gets inspired to donate to that ministry as well.) The great thing is that all 3 of these ministries are Christian, and they are not ashamed to share the gospel along with their bestowing material gifts:
1) Christian Solidarity International: Buy the freedom of a Sudanese slave (many of whom are our Christian brothers and sisters!) For about $50 (I just verified the cost yesterday with CSI), you can cover the expenses of buying the freedom of a Sudanese slave from Muslim masters in the north, and transporting them back to the south, where they belong. An additional $50 covers an survival package for them, because they are usually freed with nothing but the clothes on their back. This ministry has been working for years in this endeavor.
Website: http://www.csi-int.org
2) WorldServe: The Lights of Christmas: Most of our beautiful Christmas lights come from China… where they are often made by prison slave labor… and many of the prisoners are Christians imprisoned for their faith. While in prison, believers work hard labor for 16-20 hours/day and must try to meet impossible quotas. When they do not meet quota, they are beaten and sent back to finish the job, even if they must start the next day’s work without sleep. Imagine sitting on cold or muddy ground with only a huge box of lights and wire in front of you. Without tools of any kind, you must
assemble 3000–5000 lights per day. Quickly, your fingers become numb and bloody. Your teeth serve as your only crimping tools. Even as you work to complete your tasks, you know that you will be beaten severely if you don’t get it all done….$50 enables a Chinese pastor’s family to survive for one month while he’s imprisoned for
preaching the gospel. This provides Food• Clothing • Shelter • Medicines.
Website: http://www.worldserve.org/lightsofchristmas/TheFullStory.html
3) Samaritan’s Purse: You can fund everything from Children’s Bibles and Christmas Treats to Goats, Broods of Poultry, Fruit Trees, Sports Gear, Food Parcels, Water Wells, and lots more…at prices from $5 and up.
Website: https://giving.samaritanspurse.org/c-18-gift-catalog-index.aspx