Last-minute presents are a click away: Global Ministries provides online gift giving with a purpose

The Christmas countdown has begun, but fear not last-minute shoppers. There’s still time to find the perfect present for friends, colleagues and relatives without those worrisome holiday shipping deadlines looming.

Throughout the season of Advent, Global Ministries has been offering The Alternative Christmas, an online catalog filled with gifts that bring hope to a weary world while blessing both recipient and those in need. It’s gift giving with a purpose in just a few easy clicks. (Click here to start shopping.)

“The Alternative Christmas giving opportunity through Global Ministries is a way for us to say to others in today’s broken world that they are not alone, that hope still shines brightly,” said the Rev. Shari Prestemon, Associate General Minister, and Co-Executive, Global Ministries, a shared witness in mission of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and the UCC.

The Alternative Christmas features several categories to shop from, including “A Gift of Addressing Climate” with monetary selections to fund water purification systems or solar panels. There are also “A Gift of Education,” which provides school supplies and “A Gift of Peace with Justice,” in which $20 provides a tree to be planted in East Jerusalem. (Explore these and other life-changing, alternative Christmas gifts here.)

In addition to perusing giving opportunities, inspirational stories accompany each category, illustrating how gifts do make a difference in individual lives and entire communities. Stories such as those from Daniel Manariyo of the International Mutual Aid Committee who helps migrant women arriving in Morocco find a place of sanctuary.

“Many women arrive having crossed the desert road from Algeria, often robbed or abandoned along the way. Some have been victims of violence or exploitation. If they reach Morocco, they often have nowhere to stay and no food or support,” said Manariyo. Read more about Manariyo’s work with the International Mutual Aid Committee here.

Thanks to The Alternative Christmas, more stories like Manariyo’s, that capture the true meaning of the season of Christ being born to bring healing and hope, can be told.

“Jesus was born into a hurting world on that first Christmas, a time as riddled with injustice and conflict as ours today. But God chose to disrupt all of that with an incomparable love, to remind us in the most powerful way possible that we are not alone,” said Prestemon.

And that gift of incomparable love doesn’t have a Dec. 25 deadline either. After all, there’s Epiphany on Jan. 6, which celebrates the arrival of the Magi bearing gifts for the Christ child. Another opportunity to present loved ones with a purposeful gift, which can be good news for busy pastors and holiday procrastinators.

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