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Top Ten Tuesday: Christmas Gifts

Today, I’m taking a page from one of our Top Ten {Tuesday} participants: Shannon from Dwell Swell and her amazing Joy To The World post. Here are the…

Top Ten Gifts I Want to Give This Year

1. A Goat.

world vision

{Jill with a goat in the DR.}

Yup. Like a goat. When I was in the Dominican Republic with World Vision we stopped by a goat farm. It was run by 12 women (moms and aunts of sponsored kids). They were learning to take care of the goats, to milk them, to make cheese, milk and yogurt. They were able to feed the malnourished children in their community. And eventually make money to help support their community in other ways. Don’t you wanna give a goat?!

A goat costs only $75. You can barely buy a big set of Legos for that. Just sayin’.

2. A Bracelet

My sister-in-law works with a ministry in downtown Atlanta that helps victims of sex-trafficking. Let me say that another way–

MY SISTER IN LAW WORKS IN DOWNTOWN ATLANTA MINISTERING TO GIRLS WHO HAVE BEEN CONNED, KIDNAPPED AND FORCED INTO SEX TRADE.

This year, I’m buying my sister-in-law (Hey, Catie! Sorry to spoil the surprise!) a bracelet made by women in Thailand. These women have escaped or been rescued from the sex trafficking industry. They are now a part of a ministry that counsels them and gives them real-life training like jewelry-making, sewing and baking.

exploited girls

$40 for this bracelet and the protection of a girl. Or spend $40 on this bracelet from Anthropolgie…and get, well, a bracelet.

3. Bird. Or a bag. Or beads!

mercy house

Mercy House Kenya is a home from young unwed mothers. They train, counsel and love young ladies while pregnant and as they raise their babies. The women are taught a trade and are also given an education and an introduction to Jesus.

Average price? About $20. Or I could just buy a bestseller from Amazon.

4. Nativity Scene

I love getting Christmas-y things for Christmas. My mom collects nativity scenes. I’m still on the lookout for the perfect one–I think we have about 3—a Little People one, a handmade one from the Dominican with an extra Mary instead of a Joseph and a glass one from my Grandmother. Yeah, they’re all kind of odd.

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I’m thinking about getting this one from Azizi Life. I first heard about Azizi Life from Sara Groves, one of my long distance heroes. It’s an organization in Rwanda that “strengthens communities, promotes local enterprise and supports fair wages”. They help craftsman get the supplies they need, give others the ability to apprentice under them and then sell the goods for fair wages to help them support themselves!

This nativity scene is only $40. And a far cry from the Americanized ones in my home. And I think that’s the same price I paid for my Little People nativity.

5. Necklace

I found 31bits through Shannon’s post. I was stunned by the beautiful website, necklaces and photographs. But even more impressed by their first value: Love, because love stems from Christ and is a catalyst for positive change.

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I am thinking of getting this necklace for my mom. She’s a long-necklace kinda person. She would love knowing a woman in Uganda made this necklace and was being mentored, strengthened and protected by her work.

This necklace is $30. I found a cool necklace for $32 on etsy. I love supporting handmade wares on etsy, but this 31bits necklace empowers women to rise above poverty–and leads them to Jesus.

6. A book. And clothes. And food. And medicine. And Schooling.

child sponsorship

{This is a gift we sent to our sponsored daughter, Alizeta. She’s the one on the right, isn’t she cute?!}

Sponsor a child through Compassion and a needy child will have food, medicine, clothing, schooling and more.

Yeah, this gift is one you’ll be paying each month. $38 a month. But the return? It’s more than any gift you’ll receive this year, I promise.

Sponsoring a child for $38 a month is about $456 a year. I think I pay double that for Directv.

7. A Shoebox.

shoebox for christmas

I’ve already told you about our shoeboxes. Maybe you can’t pack a box. But you can pack a box online for only $25. Twenty-five dollars to bring hope and the Gospel to a child for the first and maybe only time in their life!

Or you could buy your kids a box of crafts for the same price. Your call.

8. A Handmade Ornament

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Ornaments for Orphans trains artisans in East Africa to create adorable Christmas ornaments. When you purchase these ornaments it helps support families and prevent orphans. They also provide care for orphans. Only $10 for one ornament and to help save a child’s life!

Or you could buy a new Hallmark ornament for $15 and never ever be able to let go of that song…

9. Blue Plastic

This Christmas our family is going to each pick a gift to give to Jesus. It’s all because of this book I got called The King’s Christmas List. We’re going to pick a gift from an organization like World Vision or Samaritan’s Purse and give it to “the least of these” so that we are actually giving it to Jesus (see Matthew 25).

Anyway, I’ve already picked what I want. It’s 1000 square feet of blue plastic that can be made into a temporary shelter. They’ve already built these “blue villages” in Haiti. I just imagine a mother being homeless after the earthquake and I want to give her a house.

Here’s a video to explain it better:

One of these blue plastic houses is just $130. You can almost buy 2 Kindles for that.

10. A Tshirt

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Sevenly creates a new Tshirt every week and donates $7 from the sales to that week’s cause. They have highlighted so many amazing companies and raised so much money that has changed so many lives! A simple T costs $24 and you’ve invested in an organization that is changing the world!

Or you could buy this shirt for $24.

So. What are you waiting for? Start shopping and make a difference in the world!!

:: :: ::

Link up your Top Ten list and join in the Top Ten {Tuesday} fun! All you have to do is WRITE a top ten list, PASTE it  below, LINK back to me in your post & then start LOVIN’ on the rest of the participants with facebook likes, stumbles, comments and tweets! For better and more succinct guidelines see my Top Ten {Tuesday} page!

Comments

  2. Amanda,

    These are AMAZING ideas. We always give an Operation Christmas Child box and a few charity gifts each year (usually Heifer International or Kiva), but I am really inspired by the idea of giving a gift to God.

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  3. I love this list. I want to give someone a goat too, or a chicken — through Heifir. One of the Etsy stores featured on my post (Marv’s Cars) uses the proceeds from his shop to purchase supplies to make more toys for kids in need (in the hospital, or orphaned, and so on). I think it is so awesome that he donates his money and time and skills to wonderful toys for kids.

  4. What a great list! I’ve been wanting to buy a nativity scene every year and have yet to do it. I love the one you have here. And thanks for the ideas on charitable giving this year.

  5. Hey–if anyone else has an organization they give $$ to {similar to what I’ve listed above…like Kiva or Heifer Int’l like Kelly mentioned} please feel free to link to it in the comments! I’d love to find out about other great places!

    a

  8. And I also have the Little People nativity set and am always on the lookout for the “perfect” one. It would be cool to have a top ten list of different nativity sets to buy for a good cause!

  9. Hi there! This is my first time here and my first time to participate in Top Ten Tuesday, I love it! 🙂 What a great meme.. 🙂

    Wow, thinking about Christmas gifts already?

    You are so generous and I think that sharing your blessings is a good idea. It has definitely inspired me to help out in my community as well.. 🙂

    I am so loving this meme! 🙂

  10. Oh cool! Thanks for putting these all together! We’re working with Evan this year so he’ll “earn” some Christmas money & then Pep/I are going to match what he earns so we can all buy something together. He prays that Genaro will have “yummy, yummy juice” so we might go for a fruit tree – that might be the closest we’ll get;)

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  11. I just love that nativity set. I’ve been on the lookout for the last two Christmases for the *perfect* one, and I think that one could be it.

  14. I love your heart. What an inspiration this post is. I’m doing OCC this year but look forward to contributing to some of these other places throughout the year with you 🙂

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  16. What a wonderful list! And I love your new philosophy for taking on advertisers. I seriously might have to steal a bit of that concept because it really spoke to me!!

    I know some people that would really love that nativity…and everything on this list is just so fabulous. Amazing what less than $50 can do to help someone else and even change lives. Thanks for the great list!!

  18. Amanda, this is a wonderful list. You did a fantastic job putting it all in perspective, and serving up just enough guilt (I mean that in a good way…) about what we think nothing of when spending on ourselves, but choke a little when we think of giving to others and as you said, to Jesus.

  23. Seriously thank you SO MUCH for putting this list together. I definitely have some women in my family who would love that jewelry knowing how its helping women around the world. Now I’m off to shop!

  24. I love this list, particularly LOVE the nativity set! Great ideas! it made me think of a WAR party I had been to, (Women at Risk) They have similar gifts they make, thanks again for the ideas!

  25. I love, love, loved this post Amanda. Thank you so much for the inspiration. I’ve been looking for a great way to make the holidays meaningful for my kids this year. When you start to look around the house you know they don’t need a thing. What a great way to give to others this holiday! Love and Light and Namaste, Karen

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  28. We gave a goat to my son’s preschool teacher one year and she LOVED it…it was a better gift than a coffee mug. (Not a real goat, a goat in her name to Heifer International).

    And I LOVE the nativity scene; I have been looking for one and that is perfect.

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