Charitable Donation Ideas

There are many wonderful charities that will allow you to gift money in the name of someone. 

Many of these charitable organizations allow you to print off certificates that you can use to present the gift.  Aside from the certificate, there are other ways of presenting your gift. For example, from Heifer International you can give money that will be used to supply an impoverished family with a small farm animal.  To present this gift you could wrap a small stuffed animal that would be a tangible reminder of the money you've given.  Or you could present someone with a Bible to represent the donation you've given in their name so that Bibles can be distributed for free.  Or you could present a water bottle to represent the money you've given so that clean water can be made available.

We've had so much fun selecting these types of gifts!  Initially I thought that they could come across as impersonal, but by selecting a cause you know is dear to the one you're giving a gift to, you can really personalize them. 

Jesus says in Mat 25:40 "whatever you did for the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me." Since Jesus tells us that what we do for the least we do for him, giving this way is actually a way to give a Christmas gift to the one who's birth we're actually celebrating, namely, Jesus!

If God lays it on your heart, check out these options:

http://www.heifer.org/

http://www.treesforlife.org/

http://www.wr.org/

http://www.fh.org/

www.kiva.org

(there are so many others too)

Merry Christmas!!

For the blog

With the four main ideas of “Simply Christmas” being (1) Worship Jesus more, (2) Spend less money, (3) Give more to Jesus, and (4) Love all; Beth and I offer this family tradition that started with her family…

 

Before opening gifts we all answer the following question, “What has God taught you this past year?”  Sometimes this involves sharing about the difficulties, challenges and obstacles we faced and how, “[His] power is made perfect in weakness,” (2 Cor. 12:9).  Also, sometimes His greatest lesson for the year was shown through His blessings, grace and mercy.

 

This tradition has become the highlight of our Christmas and leads to greater worship of Jesus and greater love for each other.   If you try it, may God use it to His glory in the lives of your family members.

 

~Joe Feest

 

Simply Christmas

Jesus came into the world to change the world. Born to a singleteen-age mom, he came in humility and in weakness. He chose to take on the body of a human, so that He could live among us, teach us about Himself, and ultimately to die upon the cross. This is the essence of Christmas. But when I look at how I celebrate Christmas, I must confess that at best I give all of this, maybe a passing minute or two. Simply Christmas is nothing more than an idea, an idea to stand against the cultural tide of consumerism so that by spending less we can ultimately give more for Him.

Join us this Sunday as we all will be challenged to rethink Christmas.

-Jonathan