ONE LESS GIFT
WHAT IS ONE LESS GIFT?
“It's amazing what a gift can do.
I don't know if you've ever received a gift that was really meaningful or memorable, but if you have, you know that the value of that gift is often far more about the heart of the gift than it is about the size of the gift. The best gifts are like that.
During the Christmas season, we celebrate the Greatest Gift ever given -- the gift of Jesus, born in Bethlehem. The gift God gave didn't look impressive, it wasn't large, and it even went unnoticed by many. But the value of that gift that came from the heart of God is impossible to measure.
And so now, as people who have been given the Greatest Gift, we respond in the only way we can: gratitude. And one of the best ways we can show gratitude is by becoming givers ourselves.
The beauty of One Less Gift is that we can all join together, choosing to have one less gift for ourselves so that we can give many gifts to others.What you give doesn't have to look impressive. It doesn't have to be large. It might even go unnoticed by many. But I imagine, like all great gifts, the value of what we are able to give together will not be measured by its size, but by the heart of love we give it with.
At College Heights, in partnership with our local and global partners, we are praying and working to give $55,000 to these needs this Christmas.”Ben Cross, Lead Minister
GLOBAL
D O M I N I C A N R E P U B L I C
$3,500
Christmas presents and clothes - For our home in the Dominican Republic, which serves boys and young men under the age of 18 who have survived sex trafficking, every December the team likes to provide Christmas presents for the boys and the staff. They also get a new set of clothes for each boy.
The Verge Project – Counseling Portion For our home in the Dominican Republic, which serves boys and young men under the age of 18 who have survived sex trafficking, we are running a program for when the young men age out called the Verge Project. This program has two current young men who just started and one of the needs is to provide additional counseling in the transition time.
S E R B I A
$3,150
Baby food to clients at the Pregnancy Care Center. It is in our mission statement to help women with small babies who are struggling financially. We have recognized that in Serbia, they are indeed a vulnerable group - often not recognized by society (they are healthy, they are young... but because of pregnancy or a small baby they cannot provide for themselves/and their babies what is needed).
LOVE gift for 20 clients of Pregnancy Care Center – A Place for Me. We are working with women who are choosing life for their babies in crisis situation. Often, they are without support of their partner or family, or they are victims of generational poverty. Through this gift, we can show our love and care. It fits in our strategy in a way that we do not want only to be a Voice for Life but to show practically the truth that every Life is valuable to God. Also, we believe that through this we can establish even closer relationship with our clients and that this will be also a testimony of God`s care for them.
Therapy for 2 children with special needs - speech therapy, psychologist and for one of them also ophthamologist check up and first glasses. As a Life affirming organization, A Place for Me, wants to support families who have a child with illnesses or disabilities. They have a mother with 2 children with developmental challenges and they go to special needs school. A Place For Me has been helping this family for many years.
Dental help for Svetlana, a single mom with two children. We have seen through the years that single moms are seriously neglecting their health. This dental work would help ease her constant tooth pain with dental crowns.
C A M B O D I A
$3,300
Healing- Counseling and Medical services for one year. This project will provide counseling and medical services for one young survivor of trafficking and abuse in Cambodia for one year. This project will affect one young girl, age 5-17, who has experienced the complex trauma of trafficking and sexual exploitation. A significant part of Rapha’s strategy is to provide high quality and evidence-based services to young survivors of trauma, and counseling and medical care are among the most important in healing from trauma.
Safety- Food and Clothing for one year. This project will provide food and clothing for one young survivor of trafficking and abuse in Cambodia for one year. This project will affect one young girl, age 5-17, who has experienced the complex trauma of trafficking and sexual exploitation. A significant part of Rapha’s strategy is to provide high quality and evidence-based services to young survivors of trafficking and abuse. Providing for their basic needs is essential in caring for children and treating complex trauma.
Education- School supplies and fees for one year. This project will provide school supplies and educational fees for one young survivor of trafficking and abuse in Cambodia for one year. This project will affect one young girl, age 5-17, who has experienced the complex trauma of trafficking and sexual exploitation. A significant part of Rapha’s strategy is to provide high quality and evidence-based services to young survivors of trauma, and education is one of the most important building blocks with which survivors build a bright future!
C E N T R A L A S I A
$1,800
Pearl Student School Fees. The students we support are Pearls and the Pakistani school has identified them as coming from families that can't afford to pay their school fees. Through the years, this project has allowed us to make some significant relationships with Pearls in our community and bless Pealr families in tangible ways. We are looking to raise enough money from OLG to pay for one student's school fees, registration fees, and yearly Pakistani board exam fees. Our team continually looks for ways to build bridges into Pealr families in our community. The scholarship program has been a great door opener for our team.
R E F U G E E S
$8,000
Furniture for refugees. This project will provide furniture for refugees that are being resettled in the Joplin area. One of RAISE’s primary focus areas is to welcome well, providing basic furniture to refugees as they arrive in Joplin helps us welcome well. Furnishing a house for 4 people typically costs us about $1,000. We buy new bed frames and mattresses to ensure they are clean and safe, we typically get all other furniture donated or we buy it used.
Blankets for refugees. This project will provide warm blankets for refugees that are being resettled in the Joplin area. A good warm blanket costs us about $25, with two hundred and forty anticipated refugees for the upcoming year.
Bedding kits for refugees. This project will provide bedding kits for refugees that are being resettled in the Joplin area. A bedding kit costs us about $225 and covers the needs for a family of 4. We provide bedding for all arriving refugees. With 240 refugees expected, we will need 60 bedding kits next year.
Coats, Hats, and Gloves for refugees. This project will provide winter coats, hats, and gloves for refugees that are being resettled in the Joplin area. One of RAISE’s primary focus areas is to welcome well, providing a warm coat, hat, and gloves when refugees arrive in Joplin helps us welcome well, especially for the many refugees that come from more tropical climates and are not used to how cold it gets during winter in Joplin.
Cooking kits for refugees. This project will provide cooking kits for refugees that are being resettled in the Joplin area. One of RAISE’s primary focus areas is to welcome well, providing a set of basic cookware and kitchen tools to refugees as they arrive in Joplin helps us welcome well. These kits contain 2 sauce pans, 2 skillets, a pot, 2 baking dishes, 2 baking sheets, 2 mixing bowls, 2 spatulas, 2 mixing spoons, a knife set, a can opener, oven mitt, hot pad, kitchen towel, and measuring cups.
T A I D A M
$1,600
Evangelism and discipleship resources - Everything related to production and distribution of evangelism and discipleship resources: radios, SD cards, bandana material in the future. These are created so that the gospel can be communicated to the Tai Dam people.
B O S N I A
$3,000
Sponsoring Mom and Me Outreach events - 6 events $300 a piece. This amount covers hospitality, advertising, giveaways to encourage moms to come Women in the Balkans get 1 year of maternity leave but they feel lonely and struggle to take their kids out. This will provide moms a place to come and feel safe, get education on a helpful topic and have fellowship together. Our Global Partners are hoping to lead to relationship and further gospel conversations.
Wood for the elderly, widows, disabled, or those in the church with financial difficulties. Ongoing need. A huge blessing to help those in the community to stay warm as heating can be really expensive.
N O R T H A F R I C A
$1,000
Arabic Bibles/resources. Many Arabic Bibles are written with Christians in mind. They use language that has been developed by Arabic speaking Christians, and thus, feel alien to many Muslims who are being introduced to the Bible for the first time. The style of the True Meaning Arabic Bible is meant to look and feel much more like an Islamic holy book. It includes pages with beautiful Arabic calligraphy as well as uses the names of prophets which are more familiar to Muslims. For example, it uses the name Isa for Jesus instead of the Christianized "Yasoua". Besides this, the True Meaning bibles have articles and introductory material which speak to the specific questions and objections that many devout Muslims raise when the topic of Jesus or the bible are raised. Topics such as the corruption of the scriptures, who is the Messiah, and the relationship of Jesus to God are all addressed in ways that speak to those who are actually hungry for answers to the tough questions we receive from Muslims. One set of two books (OT prophets and Gospels/Acts) costs $25. We would like to order 16 sets for $400.
J A P A N
$1,000
Purchasing Bibles for use by the church, members of the church, and people who are seeking to know more about Jesus. Members of the church and people interested in learning more about Jesus. It is very rare for Japanese people to own a Bible that is in Japanese and in the translation the church uses (Shinkaiyaku 2017 新改訳). The church likes to keep more on hand for people to use when at the church building and with discretion, giving them to families/individuals who don't have a Bible/can't afford one.
COMMUNITY
G O D’ S R E S O R T
$1,500
Christian counseling for residents - Subsidizing funding. We believe that our residents will benefit most if they pay a portion of their counseling, so we have them pay approximately one half of the fee, and we subsidize the rest to help them. This project will cover the subsidized amount and help us support this much needed aspect of our ministry. Our mission is to help people, through Christ centered community, choose freedom from the past and reach their potential as children of God. A significant aspect of this path toward freedom is helping our residents grow in spiritual, emotional, and mental health. Many residents come from a history of abuse and trauma and counseling is a critical piece of their healing and growth. Healed people become healthy people, who become stable people, who are then able to raise healthy children and be a support to others in their churches and communities.
L I F E C H O I C E S
$1,500
Online client educational courses. Be it a single mom, unplanned father, grandparents unexpectedly raising their grandchildren, or a survivor of trafficking, our easy-to-access online education classes provide help in learning about budgeting, healthy relationships, communication skills, parenting guidance, and so much more. Equipping young families, empowering them with resiliency skills, and instilling Godly parenting strategies strengthens not only individual family units, but the community as a whole and generations to come. To further motivate and affirm our clients who are dedicated to bettering themselves and their families, every individual who completes an education module will receive vouchers for diapers and wipes for their family.
N E I G H B O R H O O D L I F E H O U S E
$2,500
Community Kitchen supplies and Equipment. This kitchen space will help us meet physical needs of families while also providing opportunities to continue having Gospel-centered conversations with neighbors. My prayer is that God will use this space for His glory and His purposes, to equip our students with life skills while ultimately shaping their lives in the light of eternity.
W A T E R E D G A R D E N S
$3,650
One Bed for One Year. ONE NIGHT is the campaign by which the mission seeks to find sponsors willing to offset the costs of providing shelter at Watered Gardens to those struggling with poverty and homelessness in our community. For $20/mo, a sponsor covers ONE NIGHT of shelter, which includes not only a bed for someone to sleep in, but also access to laundry and shower facilities, meals, hygiene items, a set of clothing/shoes, an opportunity to hear the Gospel, and an opportunity to enter into a mentoring relationship for goal-setting, life skills and accountability. This amount covers a half a year's worth of sponsorship.
C R O S S L I N E S
$1,500
Blankets for the Working Poor. Crosslines Ministries of the Joplin Area plans to supply blankets for individuals and families in need during the cold winter months. We receive requests for blankets every year; however, in 2023 we signed up almost 900 new families and are on track to do so again this year. Many of the individuals we serve do not have heat in their homes or apartments, and some even live in their cars. The blankets they receive from Crosslines are not a luxury. They are necessary for the health and safety of many of our clients. The cost is approximately $10 per blanket. In 2023, we served an average of 220 families per month; however, we have averaged greater than 220 in 2024, as hundreds of new families have sought services. While all of our clients do not need blankets, the dramatic rise in the number of families we serve increases the probability of more requests for blankets than in previous years.
BENEVOLENCE
C O U N S E L I N G &
P R A C T I C A L H E L P
$18,000
Basic financial needs in times of crisis. We want to draw people closer to Christ by helping meet their basic financial needs in times of crisis. These charitable gifts are accompanied by evangelism, discipleship, and counsel on biblical financial stewardship.
* Use the drop-down menu to select “One Less Gift”