Just like the parable Jesus told about the widow and her two coins (Mark 12:41-44), these words from Longfellow remind us that giving what we have – no matter how small – could make a world of difference to someone. And we know that during this season of family and festivities and cooking and shopping, giving back is top of your list. But it can be easy to get overwhelmed when deciding when and where to help. There are so many ways to help others and to give back! How can we choose?
We’ve seen our online friends and community here at (in)courage rally to support (in)Mercy, sponsor children around the world and build classrooms for young mothers. Now we’d like to invite you to join us in giving back to our favorite organizations this Thanksgiving. And as you consider all the options for your giving, we wanted to offer you a resource. We’ve put together a list of some of the wonderful organizations that our (in)courage writers love and support throughout the year.
- Amani Africa
- Awake and Alive
- Children’s Cup
- Compassion International
- Dressember
- The Elisha Foundation
- Feeding America
- Help One Now
- International Justice Mission
- Mercy House
- Maubane Center with Help One Now in South Africa
- The Mocha Club
- Operation Christmas Child
- The Refugee Project
- The Salvation Army
- Tiny Hands International
- Trafficking Hope
- World Vision
What’s one way you give back during the holidays?
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(in)courage,
God has called me to help the orphans and destitute children in Pakistan who can’t afford government schools and who are then forced to do manual labor or worse, are sold into slavery. Together we’ve started Redeemer Christian School where the children are off the streets, learning about Jesus’ love for them, learning to read and write and are offered a meal. If anyone would like to shed some light in this dark corner of the world…please join me at my blog. Thanks for encouraging readers to give and make Christmas happen for children all over the world. After all, everything we have is God’s anyway.
Blessings,
Bev
In my hometown, there is a ministry called Lincoln Village Ministry, which supports low income and inner city families who need help. Its a community, with housing, a school, after school programs, a preschool, and mentoring opportunities. Their goal is to share Christ’s love with those who need to be encouraged the most. Especially this time of year, its a great way to give back by volunteering or donating. Here is the website for more information: http://www.lincolnvillageministry.com. I hope you are blessed this Christmas season by blessing those around you.
This year my husband and I will accompany our friends in serving Thanksgiving dinner to the homeless at a local church.
We are hoping to spend Christmas at a local Veteran House sponsored by one of the ministries in our city. Really looking forward to doing this.
We did this last year with the Veterans and also invited homeless people off the street as they were passing by to come and eat and watch movies with us. We had a lot of fun. A gentleman brought his 1931 Model A ford and gave everyone a ride.
What a great Christmas!
MERRY CHRISTMAS to all you you at INCOURAGE.
Phyllis 🙂
We give to Operation Christmas Child yearly. This puts joy in Our Christmas (making some child happy). Blessings to You,
Emily Lucas
Thank-you for posting all of these wonderful suggestions. Otherwise not everyone would be aware of the many ways to give…
Blessings to you all…..
Penny
We support Operation Christmas Child with donating a box to represent each of our 8 grandchildren.
Another Great organization is Kids Alive International
KAI rescues children who are at risk in several countries. They provide homes, education, and a family for them. They are not in the adoption business, but are rearing these children to become Christian leaders in their own countries. Child sponsorship and gifts are the way this is accomplished.
I am passionate about giving so I love the heart of this post – thank you! Our family’s favorite thing to do at Christmas is to participate in the Advent Conspiracy as a part of our gift exchange. You can read about how we do that here – http://myoverflowingcup.com/christmas-in-july/ – Thanks, again, for the post. I’m sharing it on FB and pinning to my Charity board.
We LOVE Compassion International and Heifer International as ways to give back
My girls get a lot of joy from looking over the World Vision “catalog” and choosing something to give. This year it’s chickens and ducks.
There is another ministry I believe is well worth it and that is Prison Fellowship’s Angel Tree – where donations are used to buy gifts for children who have a parent in jail, the ministry reaches out to these families to give them much needed hope and support.
This is such an amazing list! Last Christmas, a friend and I put together blessing bags with hats, gloves, warm socks, perishable food items, wet wipes, deodorant, toothbrushes and an encouraging note. Last winter was particularly cold and we’d been hit by an ice storm prior to Christmas day. We decided to walk around downtown and hand out the blessing bags to homeless panhandlers.
I remember it was around -20 celcius and we took the time to speak to each person for a bit and offered to grab a warm drink from the coffee shop nearby.
I will never forget one guy in particular who thanked us for stopping to speak to him. He says people usually just bypass him like he doesn’t exist.:(
This year, I will be volunteering at a homeless shelter downtown with some friends from church. We’ll be serving food, handing out care packages and sharing the love of Jesus with them.