Gifts That Last

                 Gifts With Vision from United Church Gift Catalogues

Gifts of food, shelter, education for displaced persons around the world.

Gifts That Last

For years now, our family members have drawn names so that each person could buy or make one special gift for one of our loved family members. This year, my son Dave and his family are not coming home for Christmas from South Africa. Do we include them in the draw? We hoped their daughter,  attending university here, could be our courier We decided to ask them. The following is their reply.

“We’ve talked and decided to opt out this year. We aren’t flying home. Instead, we will send the money to a
family we are helping in Ethiopia, where we used to live. The Mom, Mulu, used to work for us. She recently
died of Covid. Since we left Addis Ababa, we have been paying for their children’s schooling. The civil war
there has cost the Dad his job. The whole family are now living in danger. We love our family’s tradition of
gift giving, but this year, we are opting out to send extra help to our friends in Ethiopia. It might mean they,
too will have something special for Christmas. My heart aches for those who cannot flee. Thank you.”

Our children in South Africa have given us a precious gift. Yes, we mourn their absence. But as we exchange our gifts, we will know that we are supporting giving gifts to the family in Ethiopia. They have also reminded us, once again, how important are our gifts to Missions. So many opportunities are available to share our blessings. I offer you just two:

The United Church’s Gifts With Vision – helping people afar & in Canada – internet address is “giftswithvision.ca

KIVA – “micro-banking” loans that change lives for people in far off places – internet address “KIVA.org

There are many more. These two I believe use your gifts wisely. “Gifts with Vision” also emails a card for you to give to your loved one, telling them all about the gift.

I’m grateful to our wonderful South African family for their example. It’s a precious gift for all of us.

Jesus said, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”  John 13:34-35

Recent Comments

  • Mary-Margaret Boone
    November 28, 2021 - 10:39 pm · Reply

    This is a wonderful idea. We support Kiva because of a gift our son gave us many years ago. My gift to the pastoral charges that I used to serve were donations to Gifts With Vision. They made Giving Tuesday easy this year with wanting to support Women for Change in Zambia, who I learned about at the UCW Affirming Celebration and then the ability to Pay It Forward by donating the funds for a vaccination to Africa or South America through Gifts With Vision. I have always been a big Mission and Service Supporter because I think it helps us walk the walk and talk the talk of being Christians. I pick and l choose and budget for my donations but they are closer to the top of my allocation of monthly funds and not down near the bootom with what is leftover.

    • Janet Stobie
      November 29, 2021 - 4:26 am · Reply

      Love your support for Gifts With Vision. I find it helpful to be able to see who or what group is receiving the money I give. I love KIVA because the same money gets used over and over. I looked for something for Ethiopia for both groups but found nothing. Glad you identified with the blog. Thanks for your comment. Janet

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