How your church can get involved

How Alternative Giving Works

With an Alternative Christmas gift, you can honor your loved ones and make a difference in the lives of people around the world.  Alternative Christmas gifts are eco-friendly, ethically sound, and can change lives.  They’re perfect for the person who has “everything” and are sure to bring smiles to the gift recipient and to the faces of our global partners. 

You can choose to make a gift to support any of the projects of our international partners, the work of a current or new missionary, or you may make a general gift to Global Ministries in honor of your friends, family, pastor, or anyone.  See our list below of suggested projects to support, or you are welcome to choose any of the programs described in the Special Projects section of each geographic Mission Area on our website. For more information about any of the projects listed below, click on the title to see the full project description. 

You may make your gift online by clicking the "Give a Gift Online" button above, selecting the designation for your gift, and including information about who you are honoring with your gift and where to send a gift notice.

You may also send your check with all of the necessary information to:

Global Ministries

Office of Resource Development

P.O.  Box 1986

Indianapolis, IN 46206

Please indicate the name and address of your honoree(s) and the designation you have chosen.  We will either send you a special Global Ministries Christmas card for each item that you order or, if you would prefer, we can send the Christmas card directly to the person(s) with a photo of the particular country your gift supports.  You also will receive a receipt for your gift along with a letter of appreciation for your support.

If your gifts are designated for particular programs, they will go in their entirety for the designated purpose to our international partner.  No administrative fees are taken from designated gifts to Global Ministries because of the faithful giving from our churches to Our Church's Wider Mission (UCC) and the Disciples Mission Fund.

2009 Alternative Christmas Gift Suggestions

A General Gift to Global Ministries helps to provide a Critical Presence among approximately 270 church partners in 70 countries in the world; appoints missionaries serving in dozens of countries; provides educational resources for individuals, congregations, and other church bodies; and provides support for missionary visits to congregations and for People-to-People Pilgrimage experiences.  Global Ministries is committed to Critical Presence, meeting God's people and creation at the point of deepest need: spiritually, physically, emotionally, and/or economically.

A Gift for Missionary Support allows Global Ministries to appoint new missionaries or to support the assignment of a missionary currently serving.  Global Ministries partner churches and programs submit requests for persons in mission on a regular basis to fill their special personnel needs – usually a position involving skills or talents that they cannot fill themselves at the present time.  There continues to be a large backlog of requests from partners for missionaries that cannot be fulfilled because of financial limitations.

A Gift to a Specific Project of our global church partners:

Latin America/Caribbean

Haiti: The National Spiritual Council of Churches of Haiti (CONASPEH) is made up of 6,000 churches throughout Haiti, each of which is so committed to education that each member church strives to provide schooling for children in their areas.  Even though, by law, education is free and compulsory in Haiti for children between the ages of 6 and 11, in practice access to education is sharply limited by barriers such as school location, the cost of school clothes and supplies, and the availability of teachers.  Churches help fill the gap.  A gift of $10 can provide school supplies for a child.  $50 can help provide books for one of the church-run schools. 

Ecuador: FEDICE Chicken Project serves to provide women with their own source of income.  Offering technical training and support, as well as financial tools and assistance, FEDICE helps these women to improve the quality of their families' lives.  A gift of $10 can purchase feed for animals.  $25 can purchase a chicken or other animal.

East Asia/Pacific

Philippines: Moro Women's Center is a resource for providing income-generating vocational training in addition to being a steadfast advocate for Moro people.  The Center also has organized daycare centers in various communities and provides relief programs to those who have been displaced due to military activities.   The Moro Women's Center is providing solutions for victimized inhabitants to live their lives without disruption from the Philippine government and foreign interests.   A gift of $20 can provide daycare materials for a community center.  $40 can help provide vocational training. 

China: ZhouKou Christian Community Reading Project helps older residents learn to read while at the same time helping them learn about and understand Christianity.  Each class can accommodate up to 100 participants and lasts four months.  Classes meet weekly for about two hours each week.  Every participant receives a large-print Bible, a notebook, and a pen.  These classes are helpful and meaningful for participants and are also seen as an enhancement to the society through raising literacy rates and greater spirituality.  Through this program, Grandparents are able to better assist grandchildren with their school work.  A gift of $5 can provide a large print Bible, a notebook, and a pen for a class participant.  $15 provides a month’s stipend for an instructor and $60 will cover an instructor’s stipend for the entire class duration. 

Southern Asia

Afghanistan: Physiotherapy Institute (PTI) was established in order to train professional physiotherapists and to improve access to physiotherapy services in Afghanistan.   In addition to a three-year training program, PTI also provides courses for already-trained physiotherapists.   PTI's program emphasizes the treatment and rehabilitation of disabled children.  Teaching families how to understand and support their disabled sons and daughters reinforces and strengthens communities, while encouraging society to be more accepting of other-abled individuals.   $33 can provide a month's worth of medical supplies for an outpatient clinic; $75 can provide training materials for continuing education; $500 could help provide teacher salary so more students may enroll at PTI.

India: Family Village Farm (FVF) is home to children from extremely poor families, some having no parents or one parent who is not able to support them.   Ten to twelve children live together with, a mother and/or grandparents in each family cottage.  The mothers and grandparents living with the children are also poor, usually homeless people.  At any given time there are 150-200 children, 15 or more mothers, as well as grandparents residing at FVF.  This ministry is a critical one for the children, but it also provides a home for elderly adults who would otherwise be homeless.  These adults provide "families" for the children and help to care for them while benefiting from the housing and support.   A gift of $25 can provide materials to keep the cottages in good repair.  $50 can help provide meals for a family.  Gifts may also help upgrade and modernize one of the 32 bathrooms at Family Village Farm. 

Middle East/Europe

Israel/Palestine: Rawdat El-Zuhur is a Global Ministries Child Sponsorship site that provides 233 low-income and marginalized Palestinian children in kindergarten through grade six with a safe and nurturing environment to develop citizens who care for the environment; are capable of creative, logical, and critical thinking, accepting positive criticism, and excelling in performance; and are equipped with the necessary knowledge, skills, and attitudes to assume leadership in a democratic society.   One of the current and most needed projects at Rawdat El Zuhur is to build a separate entrance for the nursery and kindergarten to meet code requirements from the Ministry of Education.   The estimated cost of the building entrance is $3,000.   Gifts of any amount can help build the new entrance and preserve the nursery school and kindergarten facility.

Middle East Region: The Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) has been a partner of Global Ministries since its establishment.   Headquartered in Beirut, the MECC plays an active role in conflict resolution; caring for refugees; peace and community building; and bringing together Oriental Orthodox, Eastern Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant churches throughout the Middle East.   One of the MECC's programs is the Department of Service for Palestinian Refugees, which reaches people who were displaced in 1948 and 1967 during war, and are now in refugee camps in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, the West Bank, and Gaza.  A gift of $100 could help construct a cistern for families with no reliable and safe supply of water.  A gift of $40 could help purchase supplies for workshops or for a kindergarten.

Africa

South Africa: Thembani Special Day Care Centre provides care for many children with mental and physical handicaps, and respite for their caregivers, in Bedford Township, South Africa.  Thembani is based on the belief that every single person has capabilities, abilities, and gifts.  Living a full life depends on whether those capabilities can be used, abilities expressed, and gifts given.  If they are, the person will be valued, feel powerful, and connected to the people around them.   A gift of $5 can provide hygiene items for a child.  $20 can provide an educational toy for the Centre. 

Zimbabwe: Widows Farm Project was started in 2007 when a cry was heard from some of the vulnerable widows affected by the critical situation in Zimbabwe.   The United Congregational Church of Southern Africa – Zimbabwe Synod) provided the group with enough land for the garden and gave access to a water supply.   Each widow contributed what they knew of basketry, embroidery, and crocheting.   Other projects include candle-making and baking.  The project helps provide income and working together on projects also serves as a sort of therapy for the widows.   $2 can purchase seeds for a vegetable garden, $5 could buy flour to bake bread, $15 might be used to purchase candle making supplies, and $25 may help purchase farming tools.

Gifts may be in any amount.  The items mentioned above are simply suggestions.  You may make your gift online by clicking the button below or you may send your check with all of the necessary information (the name and address of your honoree(s) and the designation you have chosen) to:

Global Ministries
Office of Resource Development
P.O. Box 1986
Indianapolis, IN 46206