Christian Charities for Christmastime with Link Up

As Christmas is drawing near I wanted to share some of my favorite Christian charities with you. Christmastime is a wonderful time to seek the Lord’s direction as to whom He would have us to bless at this special time of the year.

Each year our family adds one more charity to our list of giving. I do this because I believe that as we seek to give more outside our homes, we will see how truly blessed we are. It is part of the “give more than we receive” phrase for our family.

There are so many ways that we can give to touch other’s who are hurting, hungry or in need of Jesus Christ. It can be difficult to know where to give the extra you’re blessed with, that is why I believe that we must spend time in prayer asking the Lord whom He would have us touch with a blessing from Him this year. It really is a blessing from Him not us, because all we have comes from Him, so we’re just passing a little bit of Him onto someone else! 🙂

Community Based Charities

Touching those in our communities is a wonderful way to bless others this year. Often times just before Christmas there are many ways to donate items or time for those who are need of blessing.

• Coat Drives
• Food Bank Drives
• Thanksgiving Dinner volunteer opportunities
• Wrapped gift donations (look for charities like Toys for Tots)
• Foster Child Christmas “Adoptions” (contact your state DHHS and see if they offer a Christmas gift program for kids in foster care)

If you aren’t sure where to locate events like these in your area, the first place I would check is your local library. They often have community bulletin boards full of information such as this.

Gift Catalogs

A great way to get your children involved in blessing other this Christmas is by using various charities gift catalogs. Each year several charities send them out, and you have the opportunity of selecting the exact item you want to provide for a family. I believe this is an amazing way to incorporate the power of prayer with your children. Before you being turning the pages with all of the absolutely wonderful options that you wish you could send all of, stop and pray together as a family asking the Lord to direct  you to the item that will be a blessing to the family your gift will be sent to.

• Gospel for Asia
• Samaritan’s Purse
• Compassion 

Each of these have things like animals, clean water, mosquito nets, bicycles, etc. as options for blessing others.

A new gift catalog that I received news of this year via email is from Lifesong for Orphans, and I shared about it over here. A few of their gift options include….

• Sponsoring an Orphan
• Help Fund an Adoption
• Provide Sustainable Business Supplies
• Fair Trade, Organic Coffee 

As a Lifesong blogger, I was thrilled to this new opportunity to support their mission. I know that God is going to do great things through them!

Other Christmas Giving Opportunities

• Operation Christmas Child

I have been a long time supporter of Samaritan’s Purse, and their program Operation Christmas Child is one ministry that we have never not participated in. Even in the years that we have struggled financially ourselves, we have always taken the time to put together a couple boxes for children that need Jesus. Each of our children fill a box every year, and including the $7/ea. shipping donation we don’t spend more than $50 total.

• Military Appreciation

Last month I shared on the topic of reaching out to our military as a time of giving thanks for all that they do and all that they sacrifice for our freedom and safety. Christmas is also a wonderful time to reach out and let them know that they are not forgotten. Especially those that are serving overseas during the holidays, while their family is left behind. I hope you’ll swing by my post for some ideas to touch the lives of those we and our country rely on.

• Missionaries

Those serving the Lord away from home during the holidays are often homesick and missing items from home that remind them of Christmas. Things are often more expensive in other countries, so consider sending extra money in leiu of a gift, should the Lord direct you in this way. Blessing them at Christmas would probably be a surprise, what better gift to give at Christmastime?

Whatever direction the Lord gives you to bless others this Christmas season, I pray that you will be blessed in all that you do! May we come together as Christians and touch those in our world that need Christ, those serving for Christ and those have been called to serve our country.

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