Contemplating Christmas - Part 7

We've reached the end of our series on Christmas gift-giving ideas.  We've explored sponsoring precious children in impoverished nations, gifting animals in loved ones' honor, digging wells to bring clean water to those who have none, helping Katie Davis with her many projects of love in Uganda, & working with Drawn From Water to save condemned mingi children from death.  I hope that you consider one or all of these this Christmas.  Including our last one, which is also of utmost importance.

     -Help persecuted Christians. Voice of the Martyrs aids persecuted Christians in all sorts of ways all over the world. Their medical arm performs life-saving surgeries & lavishes care on Christians that have fallen victim to bombings, beatings, & attacks of all sorts. They provide books & Bibles to Christians in countries where Christian literature is illegal. They proclaim God's truth & Christ as Lord & Savior by way of secret radio stations in guerilla territories. They drop Christian material over Communist countries through balloons. They feature stories of unjustly imprisoned Christians in their monthly newsletter, which sometimes leads to their release because of international pressure. They aid widows whose husbands have been martyred. They release families from slavery & provide ways for them to make an income & support themselves through businesses. They realize that the body of Christ is so much larger than what is contained in our church buildings. They minister to our brothers & sisters all over the world in life-saving & faith-building ways. And through them, we have an opportunity to do the same.



I'm sure there are many more organizations of which we are unaware that deserve time, attention, & resources. If you know of any, please let us know.

Going without a new bottle of lotion from Bath & Body Works, or a new purse, or another necklace, or any of the other countless presents that just add to my already overflowing stash of possessions in order to help others is a trade-off that I am more than willing to make. It's not that these things aren't nice - or are even inherently wrong. But the joy that comes from knowing that God is using the resources that He has entrusted to us to change someone's life - both here & for eternity - is a joy that knows no bounds & easily trumps getting something for myself! We do none of this under our own strength or for ourselves, but we pray that we are being faithful stewards & that God is glorified through our celebration of His birth, our greatest gift.