Christmas Gifts

Good Morning Trinity Tribe,

I missed Wednesday's email because I was working like a madman trying to get the newsletter out into your mailboxes. So, here is a bonus Friday thought for the day! We will be remembering our Saints and recognizing and remembering our Veterans on Sunday. So you will want to be here at Trinity for this special service.

I don't know about you, but I have noticed the Christmas advertising poster on the windows at Peebles as I drive down Main Street. It is barely Fall but, according to the retailers, we must prepare for Christmas! There are gifts to buy! Presents to purchase!

I don't know about you and your family, but my parents and other relatives have enough stuff! You don't need clothes. Your coffee pot is brand new. There just isn't anything other than a book or two you might want to give. So, why don't you give a gift that keeps on giving? I have two opportunities for you to consider as you plan your Christmas gift giving.

One, is the United Methodist Advance Alternative Christmas Gift program. The Advance is an accountable, designated giving arm of The United Methodist Church that ensures 100% of each gift is used for its intended mission or ministry. Their work fulfills both physical and spiritual needs through a variety of partnerships worldwide, to reach mutual goals that make a life-changing and long-lasting impact. As we grow into becoming wise givers, we understand the process is not about filling a box with more “stuff.” Mission is about giving, a gift to be treasured long after the special occasion passes.
The Advance offers perfect opportunities to give beyond the ordinary with alternative gifts – the practice of giving a donation in someone’s honor rather than a physical gift. Alternative giving works for all occasions, from Christmas and birthdays to anniversaries and retirements.

It is really two gifts in one – a gift through The Advance to the people it helps and a gift to the person you honor. 100 % of your gift reaches its intended mission and ministry. Here are some different ministries that are funded by gifts from people like you and me through the Advance….

#00545A – Community-BAsed RehABilitAtion in FARyAB PRovinCe, AFghAnistAn: $11 can help train a woman to become a midwife, thereby reducing the high rate of childbirth-related disability and death.
#15021B – BAltiC methodist theologiCAl seminARy, estoniA: $12 can provide a library book to educate young church leaders from Russia and Eastern Europe.
#11580A – shAde And FResh WAteR, BRAzil: $20 can offer tutoring and Christian education to at-risk children.
#13738o – RenovAtion oF Betty CAReW Women’s tRAining CenteR, sieRRA leone: $45 can purchase a bed for a woman living in extreme poverty.
#171282 – Feed my stARving ChildRen: 15 cents can provide a meal to a child in Haiti, Ethiopia, India and around the world. $55 can give a child a meal every day for a year.
#581540 – Amigos del vAlle, neW mexiCo, united stAtes: $60 can give an older adult home-assistance care for a year.
#12017A – Bethlehem BiBle College, the shePheRd soCiety, isRAel And PAlestine: $75 can pay a week’s salary for a worker to buy medicine, food and shelter for his or her family.
#14578A – Amity FoundAtion Blindness PRevention PRojeCt, ChinA: $85 can give sight to a blind person suffering from cataracts.
#14932A – vietnAm mission initiAtive: $100 can help start a new church in a country recovering from war and where less than 1 percent of the population is Protestant.
#07629A – give ye them to eAt, mexiCo: $120 can buy a female goat for a village to provide milk, food and baby goats.
#15057A – neW liFe, zAmBiA: $250 can buy a PET (Personal Energy Transportation) hand bike for a person unable to walk.
#14846A – ACCion mediCA ChRistiAnA, mAtAgAlPA, niCARAguA: $300 can buy a cow for a village woman, enabling her to earn money and give calves to other women in the community, who will repeat the cycle.
How to give:

• Online: www.advancinghope.org • By credit card: call (888) 252-6174 • By check: Write your check payable to your local church. Include The Advance # and give your gift to your local church treasurer. OR • Write your check payable to “Advance GCFA.” Mail check to: Advance, GCFA, P.O.Box 9068, GPO, New York 10087-9068.
Then tell the honoree about your gift by using The Advance Alternative Giving card. Call (888) 346-3862 to order the Alternative Generic Giving Card #87403008 or the Alternative Giving Christmas Card #87403708 or order online at umcgiving.org. I have ordered some of these for Trinity. They should be here in a week or two.

Secondly, ZOE Ministry (Zimbabwe Orphan's Initiative) is a wonderful mission started by a pastor in our NC Conference who's heart was broken by all the orphans in southern Africa. Greg Jenks' ministry has grown into multiple countries and now has multiple foci. They continue to feed orphans meals. However, they have begun a micro-business project in the last several years that I LOVE. They form orphans who are heads of household into groups. These groups become entrepreneurial enterprises. They work to prepare every one's land and receive training and then receive seed or animals. They are then expected to pay back what they have borrowed and to mentor other orphans to become self sufficient. Most orphans are completely self sufficient and earning a good living and supporting their brothers and sisters by the end of the three year program. For a Christmas gift, you could purchase an animal for their animal projects. A cow, pig, even a goat can be a first step toward transforming the life of an orphan who is left to care for younger brothers and sisters because the AIDS pandemic claimed the lives of their parents.
The ZOE Orphan Empowerment Project equips these children with essential life skills such as farming, animal husbandry and small business training while sharing the good news of Christ’s love.
An animal provides income, fertilizer for fields, and nourishment as orphans journey through ZOE’s Empowerment Project. Read more at the website below and watch the moving video.


http://www.zoeministry.org/you-can-give-hope/seasonal-zoe-resources/advent-christmas-resources/hope-for-christmas-animal-project

Jesus didn't tell us to collect more stuff. Jesus told us to love one another. Let's take Christmas back from the retailers and use it for what it was intended: spreading God's love around the world!

Have a great weekend! See you on Sunday!!!