Use these ideas as inspiration or to copy
and adapt in your congregation, home, or community! Though
these ideas work well in the Advent and Christmas seasons, some
may be used any time during the year.
- Hold an "alternative gift fair"
after or between worship services during Advent. Invite
members to "buy" their Christmas presents there, filling out a
simple order form and writing one check when they are done.
When they pay a cashier, give them gift cards to fill out, or
have an artistic congregational member fill them out for them
on the spot (see samples).
- Have your
Sunday school class
pick an item from the catalog (such as purchasing an animal
for a family or supporting children in Africa), with each class taking responsibility for
contributing to the combined effort.
- Members of Women of the ELCA and
other groups can avoid the
hassle of buying greeting cards
year-round by pooling money they would have spent to give each
other birthday, anniversary or other cards and having the
person celebrating a birthday or other occasion choose an item
from this catalog. Follow up such a gift with an
e-card.
- Honor high school graduates,
confirmands and other youth
celebrating milestones with a special gift from this catalog.
Confirmation classes choosing gifts for their congregation
could "go global" as well as local by giving one of these
hunger-fighting gifts
- Make handmade cards (or cakes)
to signify the theme of your gifts– from pigs to quilts.
See examples of these.
Or hand-write a more traditional message in a blank card. (Example
cards provide sample text that can be copied.)
- Mary Wennes, Phoenix, AZ,
tells how she moved from choosing a Christmas "gift" from this
catalog for her young grandchildren to letting them choose
their own World Hunger gift now that they are older. The whole
Wennes family enjoys this kind of Christmas and birthday
giving. Grandpa (and former Bishop of the ELCA Grand Canyon
Synod) Howie Wennes likes to brag about how his family "gave"
him a new house, one built for a poor family in Honduras who
lost everything following Hurricane Mitch.
- Here's how
members of Holy Trinity Lutheran
Church, Fort Walton Beach, FL,
avoided the Christmas gift-buying frenzy one year and gave
Christmas gifts that helped people in need:
The congregation held an "Outreach
Gift Fair" one Sunday in mid-November, beginning after the
first service and continuing until early afternoon. The
congregation's education wing was decorated like a "World
Village," with maps, colorful cloth and some "hands-on"
displays. Each of several tables highlighted a specific
World Hunger project, like those listed in this catalog. Two
local projects from Holy Trinity's community were also
included.
After church, members cruised
through the fair to "buy" a gift for a parent, child or
friend. They filled out a simple "order form," paid a
"cashier" by cash or check, and were given specially printed
gift cards for the recipient of the gift. The buyers had the
option of having an artistic congregational volunteer fill
out the gift card on the spot or doing it themselves later.
The congregation also invited
members of the community to stop by. One non-member who read
about the fair in the local paper ended up "buying"
Christmas presents for all her children who "have too much
stuff already!"
In all, $2,500 in "alternative gifts" were given. On
Christmas Day, individuals received a meaningful gift,
rather than one more tie or bathrobe they will never wear.
And people from Haiti to Tanzania received help as they work
to break the cycle of poverty.
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Short church seasons such as Advent
are well-suited to using, especially with children,
40-Day Hunger Calendar,
a calendar that offers opportunities to pray, support, and give money daily to help hungry people around
the world or learn to live more simply. Hunger Appeal
offering boxes/coin banks are a perfect accompaniment to the
calendar (see below for ordering information for these two
resources). Order enough for every family in your congregation
to use at home.
Suggestion/variation:
St. Luke Lutheran, Silver Spring, MD, used information from a
calendar like 40-Day Hunger
Calendar
and other sources to create an Advent devotional booklet. For
each day in Advent, the booklet gave a reading and an action,
followed by a prayer, written by children in the congregation's
Sunday school (see excerpted entries below). Since many members
of the congregation contributed to the writing, this project
began early in the fall so the book could be completed before
Advent. All money collected in special Advent giving jars, made
by students in the elementary grades, was given to the World
Hunger Appeal after Christmas.
Excerpts from "Advent 1999," a
devotional booklet from St. Luke Lutheran Church, Silver Spring,
MD:
Friday, December 3, 1999
Scripture: Isaiah 64:1-4
>Have a simple meal of soup and salad and give the extra money
you would have spent on a full meal to your Advent Giving Jar.
Dear God,
Thank you for everything you gave us. Please help the less
fortunate people in all parts of the world – the people who are
sick, hungry, and in need of shelter. Amen.
-Sarah Davis, 6th grade
Monday, December 13, 1999
Scripture: John 1:19-23
>To earn money to feed their children, women in Zimbabwe have
begun, with the help of the ELCA World Hunger Appeal, to raise
chickens. Give 15 cents for each time you ate chicken or eggs
this week.
Thank you, Lord, for taking us under
your loving wing. Thank you for keeping us warm in a cold world.
Thank you, Lord, for never turning your back on us. Thank you,
Lord. Amen.
-Ben Martinez, 8th grade
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ELCA Good Gifts catalog
(online
version)
For “the person who has
everything,” give a symbolic gift that will help people around
the world who have very little. This catalog lists projects that
you can give money to in honor of someone. For example, “buy” a
week’s worth of food for AIDS orphans in Africa for your son or
a cow or goat for a Rwandan for your wife. Ideal for choosing
gifts for children and grandchildren and for congregational gift
fairs.
40-Day Hunger Calendar: "Living Simply with God"
This popular 40-day calendar
offers adults and children of all ages opportunities to pray,
discuss, read, count, write, and give money to help hungry
people around the world.
Hunger Appeal offering boxes/coin
banks
Popular accompaniment to 40-day calendar (above), these
four-color banks feature faces of children from around the
world. Use with Sunday schools and VBS.
ISBN 6-0001-9706-3. Free.
>NOTE: Materials ordered online
are provided by
Augsburg Fortress.
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