With Christmas rapidly approaching, I’d like to offer a suggestion. Instead of asking for socks, Starbucks cards, perfume, clothes … the usual stuff … why not ask that someone make a donation in your name to Gospel for Asia?
You’d be amazed at what an $11 contribution can do. For $11, you can buy a pair of chickens or rabbits for an impoverished family in India and help them start a cottage industry. Lambs, pigs, goats, cows, water buffalo … even camels are available for purchase, and any of those can make an incredible difference in the lives of people who can not buy these resources for themselves. Blankets can be had for just $12; Bibles for $3. Or if you want to help a woman feed her children, you can provide a treadle sewing machine for $85. The list — and the needs — are endless.
Here’s the link to the Gospel For Asia donation site: Donation – Gospel for Asia.
Once there, you can browse through the different categories and find something that tugs at you. Better yet, get your children involved. This is an opportunity to open their eyes to the world around them, teach them about giving, and perhaps even lessen some of the materialism that they (and us) have allowed to creep in.
If you’d like to get others involved, this would be a wonderful idea for your church small group, children’s ministry, men’s or women’s ministry. A few years ago, our women’s ministry saved $1000 to buy a Jesus Well for a village in India. We’re saving for our second right now.
For several years now, whenever my husband asks me what I want for Christmas, I ask him to go shopping on the Gospel For Asia site. And every year, he tucks a white envelope in our Christmas tree with my name on it. The first year I opened that envelope and pulled out the printed sheet listing all the things he’d bought at the site, it made me cry. He’d bought a sewing machine, among other items. I felt this sudden, crazy, completely unexpected connection to the woman-who-would-be-sewing. And nothing I’d received for myself could have possibly felt better.
When is the last time a gift made you cry? Do this once and you won’t want to stop. I promise.
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I agree! We keep a jar under our tree to collect money for GFA every year. Thank you for speaking at our Calvary Cafe last night! I loved hearing about your trip and am hoping to find pictures on here some where 😉
Hello Angel! I had such a wonderful time with you all last night … thanks for having me! And thanks for the nudge about the pictures. I wrote a post with just a few, but I really need to post a bunch. I’ll get busy on that! 🙂