Author: jdunderwood

Scotland pics

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We had an awesome day–I hope to post about it sometime tomorrow (or in the airport the following day)–but I’m just posting a few pics tonight. I really need to gather some of the best from the team to post here; some of them have taken amazing pictures.

beach

St. Andrews’ Caslte to the left–and Abby and Britta looking out to sea.

swilcan bridge

the students on Swilcan Bridge at the golf course

dave on beach

Dave looking at the students. He didn’t want sand in HIS boots!

St andrews

the view from inside St. Andrews’ castle looking down at the sea just below. See the birds nesting on the ledge?

Max on beach

Max trying to leap from the rock to the shore without getting too wet! (He didn’t succeed!)

poppy in sunlight

A poppy on the gate at St. Andrews’ cathedral (hung here to remember fallen soldiers, particularly unknown ones)

Carson on rock

Carson standing on the cathedral ruins

St. Andrews chapel

the chapel at St. Andrews

Scotland, school days

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NOTE: my apologies for the lack of pictures–I have some, and I’ll try to post them tomorrow.

Yesterday morning we held our first assembly at the local public secondary school. We showed an introductory video made by our three senior guys; one of the group members shared a brief testimony; and we showed a video of The Father’s Love Letter while Megan and Carson performed “How He Loves.”

That last video/song combination had me in tears (and when they repeated it again in this morning’s assembly, it had the same effect). Sarah shortened the version of The Father’s Love Letter that is available online (just follow the link above) and then Maggie and Emily made videos of the two of them writing out key phrases from the shortened love letter in cool print/script combinations. Then they put all the videos in the correct order and sped them up. Originally they wanted to record voices onto the video reading the Love Letter aloud, but the size of the files prohibited this. They weren’t sure what to do, but then we had the grand idea of asking Megan to sing as Carson played “How He Loves.”

INCREDIBLE!

Really incredible!

As I listened to Megan sing and read the words of the Father God—written to all of his rebellious creation—I thought, “Oh, if we could fully believe that this is who you are, Father, and then live in awe of this great love—what a difference it would make!”

The audiences during both yesterday’s and today’s assemblies went silent when the video began and Megan’s sang her first note. Please pray for the students’ hearts. Pray that they will remember the exact phrase that will most impact them and speak into their lives. Pray that the testimonies they’ve heard from the students will draw them to hope in God.

After assembly yesterday (Monday), we had our last day trip, riding the bus with Graeme (I think I misspelled his name last post—forgot about the Scottish spelling) to St. Andrews (home of the British Open). Graeme, an avid golfer himself, positioned all the students on the Swilcan Bridge, and told them that pictures on this bridge would make them the envy of any other golfer.

Then we were off to sights that I appreciated far more: a lovely chapel at St. Andrews University (someone was up in the organ loft practicing when we went on—an awesome experience); the ruins of the St. Andrews Cathedral—where we read gravestones and inscriptions and simply enjoyed being outside in the sunshine (first day of sunshine in WEEKS!); and then St. Andrews Castle, also in ruins. Oddly, several of the kids said this was their favorite castle, perhaps in part because they had to use their imaginations and clambering up and down ruins in the fresh air is wonderful. We were also able to descend the cliff to the skinny beach. Several of the kids got wet feet and pants, and Cameron, who’d never before seen the sea or ocean, had sand all in his boots, and I think his feet took hours to warm up, but he said he would do it again in a heartbeat.

On the way back to Livingston we stopped at Anstruther’s, well known for its fish and chips. They ARE really delicious, but we did notice a heart clinic right next door to the shop and when we mentioned this to one of the wait staff, she laughed but didn’t say anything!

We returned to the church and spent some time sharing testimony and praying for the next day (today), when our students would shadow students from the community high school all day.

I’m writing this now at the end of that day, Tuesday, a truly blessed day. After this morning’s assembly, the students went off to classes. At lunch we met in the library for Q Place (a weekly drop-in center Rob and another missionary run–the “Q” stands for “question”). Then we attended a senior level RMPS (Religious, Moral, and Philosophical Studies) class. The students were working on their senior dissertations on individually chosen ethical/religious questions. Our students separated to tables around the room, and the RMPS students joined them, asking about the Christian perspective on issues like abortion, organ harvesting, women’s rights, etc.

Every single discussion led to genuine conversation—to bonds being formed between the RMPS students and ours. It was beautiful.

I was proud of our students for several reasons:

-they didn’t turn a difference of opinion into a debate. They remembered that the point was not to be “proved right” but was to dialogue and share Christ and a biblical view (and to admit when they simply didn’t know or didn’t feel that there was a clear answer)

-they came to see the students across from them as real people much like themselves

-they wanted to continue to get to know these students. They didn’t simply want to share their views; they wanted to enter into true, respectful dialogue with the RMPS students.

-They were vulnerable and willing to share their own stories when they impacted the conversation or topic (today was a vivid lesson in how God can take our sorrows and difficulties and use them for good).

We had an early dinner in lovely Linlithgow, site of the castle where Mary, Queen of Scots was born. (The restaurant was The Four Marys, named after the Queen of Scots’ four handmaidens—who were all named “Mary.” Very interesting story.) Then we got the kids to their host families so they could get some rest.

Please pray for good rest. We are in the school part of each of the next two days, presenting at morning assembly (the student body is divided into four sections, with one section going to assembly each day) and then attending two RMPS classes. Wednesday night we will spend time with a youth group. Thursday afternoon we will attend another discussion group at the school and then a big party (called a calJO:JIO:JO) that we’ve invited as many local students to as possible. This is all very exciting—but it’s also exhausting, and we’re already tired. It’s a great time, though, for our students to see and know the power of the Holy Spirit. Please pray for us to rely on supernatural strength rather than our own.

Scotland, days 2-4

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The group outside Stirling Castle

Well, we did see Stirling Castle and the William Wallace monument on Friday, but Billy (named after Wallace himself) was not our guide/driver. Instead, we rode with Graham, who is an excellent guide—full of all kinds of interesting tidbits—but a bit of a speedy driver on the windy Scottish back roads. By the time we finished the day, one of our kids had actually gotten carsick and several others were looking a bit green around the gills.

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A view from Stirling Castle

But our time outside the bus was quite enjoyable! Stirling Castle has been restored and is staged to look as historians believe it would have at the time of James V of Scotland. We got a look at the medieval-era castle kitchens, the palace with its multiple waiting rooms (for persons of different rank), the Great Hall which once seated 500 for a banquet at which they wheeled in the fish course on a 5-meter long ship complete with brass cannons!

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Another view from Stirling Castle

After Stirling we drove to a tiny town named Kilmahog (literally “church of mahog”—so evidently some church leader named Mahog lived there at one time). Kilmahog is home to (among other things) a woolen mill and a GREAT little café where they make everything from scratch and have homemade soups that are delicious and just outside ordinary (like Friday’s choice: tomato cranberry—yum!). It was also home (until fairly recently) to the famous highland cow Hamish.

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Em in the Highlands

We drove a little ways into the highlands (absolutely beautiful) and then turned around and headed toward the William Wallace monument. We made a quick stop at Doune Castle (where Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Outlanders, and Game of Thrones were all filmed), which was perfect timing for our motion-sickness-prone group member to completely lose her lunch (we told her she shouldn’t be embarrassed; after all, very few people can say they’ve puked at the site where Monty Python was filmed!) and then drove to the William Wallace monument. We climbed up, up, up the steep hill to the base of the monument and then 265 steps to the top of the monument itself. We were grateful that the weather cleared for a bit, so we could see the whole of the town of Stirling laid out below in the valley and Stirling Castle up on the other side of it. We stopped in the historical rooms as we descended. In one of them was a replica of Wallace’s giant sword. He had to have been not only tall but incredibly strong to heft that thing. (The most conservative estimates put him at 6’2”ish, which, since the rest of the Scots in his time hovered around 5½ feet, is comparatively ginormous).

We ate dinner back in Livingston and then spent some group time preparing for the church service on Sunday before heading back to host families and bed.

Saturday we rode the train system into Edinburgh. The Royal Mile in Edinburgh is almost magical in its beauty, but it has dark undertones. The spiritual history of Edinburgh is rich, as we learned when we took the Reformation Tour in the morning. Dave and I consider this particular tour key in teaching the students the Christian history of Scotland and its current spiritual state. It’s run by Christian Heritage of Edinburgh, and it’s excellent. Paul James-Griffiths ends the tour at St. Columba’s Free Church with hot chocolate and his perspective on the the church today in Scotland. His view is supported when you leave St. Columba’s and see the state of so many of the physical churches on the Royal Mile. One hundred years ago these churches were the birthplaces of social, political, and educational reform and scientific and medical discoveries, but now one is a nightclub, another a social club, and another the starting point for a ghost tour.

We gave the kids some free time after lunch (which we ate at The Elephant House, where J.K. Rowling wrote much of Harry Potter), and several of them remarked to us about the dark feel of some areas of the Royal Mile. The bright point, for me at least, was when we visited Queen Margaret’s chapel at the top of the hill at Edinburgh Castle. I’d become fascinated with Margaret the year before when we visited Edinburgh, and I researched and wrote about her when I returned home. (Here’s the link to a piece I wrote about Margaret.) Following dinner at Deacon Brodie’s (named after Deacon Brodie, the respectable-man-by-day-burglar-by-night who provided inspiration for Robert Louis Stevenson’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde), we returned to the church to finish getting ready for the Sunday service. We were also able to have a really sweet time of sharing testimonies and prayer before host families picked up the students.

This morning’s church service was wonderful. Our students led worship and shared testimony to God’s work in their lives and worked with the children and really interacted with the church members. There are incredibly few young people in the Church in Scotland, so we were told again and again what an encouragement our young people were.

We had a potluck following church and then some down time and then held a joint service with a youth group only a couple miles down the road. We put them in small groups mixed with both our students and youth group members in each group. One of the questions we asked them to answer was this: What makes it hard for you to follow Christ in your school or home context? Our students talked about how easy it is to get complacent; their students talked about not knowing a single other Christian in their schools. We shared prayer requests in these small groups and worshipped together and shared more testimony. It was a really beautiful time of fellowship, and when it was time to go, our students didn’t want to leave—which was exactly the result we’d prayed for.

After a dinner of fried pizza (or you could get a fried burger!—both ‘ick!’ in my opinion—we sent them back to host families. Tomorrow, very early, we will be at the community high school, leading the first assembly of the new year to 250 students. Please pray for this assembly. Pray that hearts are already prepared, that the word of God falls fresh, that the technology works correctly, that we see and sense the Holy Spirit’s movement, and that God’s love is palpable.

last day in London/first in Scotland

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westminster.jpg

The prayer engraved outside Westminster Abbey

We’re in Scotland!

With all sixteen kids! (Not much of an accomplishment, but on last year’s London/Scotland trip, we “lost” a kid the very first day, so I’m grateful!)

Yesterday we began the day with tube travel in peak morning traffic (one Londoner told me the government is considering all kinds of options to decrease tube traffic in the morning—it’s crazy!). Our marvelous tour guide Ruth met us just outside Westminster Abbey and told us one story after another as we walked through the Abbey. The kids kept turning to me and saying, “She’s amazing!” She really is! A good tour guide makes all the difference!

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The view of Trafalgar Square from the entrance to the National Art Gallery (see the street performer in the bottom right corner? Fun!)

Highlights for me from Westminster Abbey (if you’re a parent, this will give you talking points with your student):

-the tomb of the unknown soldier from WWI (when Ruth told us about the hundreds of war widows who came to the burial, all of them thinking of the unknown soldier in the tomb as her husband, several of us had tears in our eyes)

-Queen Elizabeth’s tomb—where she is buried with her enemy-sister Bloody Queen Mary (the tomb is pretty incredible, but the main point of fascination for me is Ruth’s telling of these sisters’ backgrounds and their father’s craziness!)

-the pause for prayer (Westminster is still a working church)

-Poets’ Corner (and especially Dickens’ memorial—where, following his death, the poor of London came by the hundreds to pay tribute to the man who was sympathetic to their plight and wrote about them as real and valuable people)

-the gothic arches—can you believe that those huge, soaring ceilings were accomplished through trial and error? Incredible.

After Westminster we walked to Buckingham, watched the changing of the guard, learned about the current state of the monarchy from Ruth, a born-and-bred Londoner who loves her queen, and then had lunch and free time at Trafalgar Square.

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I moved WAY back–still couldn’t fit the entirety of St. Pauls in the shot!

All fun, but the most meaningful part of the day for me was Evensong service at St. Paul’s Cathedral. As an Anglican myself, it had special significance, but even the students unfamiliar with liturgy took something from the service. When you recite the Lord’s Prayer in a place as grand as St. Paul’s, with the great dome rising above, and you remember that the God we worship is so much more majestic and mighty and beautiful as to make the dome seem pitiful in comparison—well, that’s pretty awe-inspiring!

Last night at room check, Dave and I gave the kids a taste of Scotland in the form of Tunnock’s teacakes (about which, by the way, there is currently a bit of a furor [sorry, couldn’t resist the word] because the director of Tunnocks just ran an ad in the London Underground marketing the cakes as “Britain’s” tea cakes rather than Scotland’s. Follow this link to read more!)

This morning, bright and early–correction: “dark and early”–we boarded the train to Edinburgh. Another smooth transition, aided by a very kind rail worker named Simon who saw our huge pile of bags and offered to put it in a secure car at the back of the train because he knew we would have taken it to our carriage only to find it packed so full of passengers there wouldn’t have been room for it. Thank you, Simon!

So now we’re in Scotland, the real heart of this trip, where we will hang out with Scottish teens and spend time in Scottish churches and do, of course, a lot of discovering of this beautiful, rainy, long-historied place. We spent the afternoon in training sessions, learning about the church in Scotland and talking about our faith and how to share it with the Scottish teens we will soon meet. After sessions and dinner, our students went home with their Scottish host families, and Dave and I caught up with Rob and Louise Bell, the missionaries and dear friends who help coordinate this trip.

Tomorrow we’re off to Stirling Castle and the William Wallace Monument. Our driver Billy will tell us all kinds of interesting tidbits about the Scottish hero he and so many other Scottish lads are named for, and we’ll end the day with some work time for the church service we’ll lead on Sunday.

Thanks for reading,

Jen

First day in London

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tower of londonDave (husband) and I are in the UK, leading a trip for 16 high school students from Wheaton Academy. SO, for the next week and a half, my blog will have the extra purpose of updating the students’ parents.

We landed in London late last night and had not a single hitch with catching the very last train running and getting checked into our hotel. That may sound like no big deal, but with a group of 18, it’s pretty awesome. The 10:30 p.m. arrival was a blessing in disguise, for though Dave had worried quite a bit about catching the tube before it shut down for the day, the absence of other people made it incredibly easy to figure everything out and get in and out!

Stamford Bridge

trophies at Stamford Bridge

Had it just been the two of us, we would have headed straight to bed, but teens are always hungry, so we went to Burger King for our first meal in the UK—lame, but there aren’t too many places open at 1 in the morning!

Victoria and Albert Museum

This was hanging at the entrance to the Victoria and Albert Museum–SO beautiful!

Today we were simply tourists, exploring the Tower of London and then splitting up for some of us to get coffee and visit the Victoria and Albert Museum and others to tour Stamford Bridge (it’s the name of Chelsea Football Club’s stadium—“football” being “soccer” (or the REAL football J).

We allowed the kids a short rest at the hotel before heading off to dinner and then Picadilly Circus. We had to explain that it wasn’t actually a circus but a shopping district, disappointing some and energizing others.

I love this group of kids. They’re fun and kind to each other. They keep up and are traffic-savvy—which, as the chaperone who generally brings up the rear, I REALLY appreciate. I’m enjoying getting to know each of them during the day and then checking in on them at the end of the day.

street art

As my group left the museum to get coffee, we see these street artists making these incredible sand sculptures!

Picadilly Circus

The end of the day!

Tomorrow we will do more touring—seeing Big Ben, the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, and Trafalgar Square. But two key points in the busyness of tomorrow will be our tour of Westminster Abbey and attending Evensong service at St. Paul’s Cathedral. As we look ahead to our time in Scotland and, later, reflect on our time here, Dave and I are hoping that the Abbey tour (as well as the Reformation tour we’ll go on in Edinburgh) and the service give the students a good feel for the spiritual history of the United Kingdom and the state of the UK church right now.

What I need

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mads eye

This is daughter Em’s work–she took this shot of her younger sister’s eye as part of her digital photo final exam. No relation to this post–just wanted to share.

I dabbled in studying the Trinity this past fall. I learned much, but learned more than anything that I’d merely left the shore to sit in a rowboat on the ocean’s surface in order to peer into the depths. I was able to see further into the water from the boat than I had on land but was also able to see that beneath me were fathoms upon fathoms of mystery and beauty.

I realized I could spend my life studying the Trinity and still be snorkeling in the shallows.

Yet even the shallows are amazingly wonderful! The very idea of a three-in-one God, a God who is three persons distinct yet sharing the same essence, so full of love for one another that this love overflows into and onto creation…

Is incredible, simply incredible.

As I read about and marveled at the Trinity, a conversation from a couple years ago kept coming back to me. I’d never forgotten this conversation because it made me uncomfortable. I left it feeling I’d said the wrong thing, but my studies of the Trinity gave me insight into why I said what I did.

My doorbell rang one day while the kids were at school, and I opened my door to find two women who wanted to tell me about their faith. They were both older than I, and even though I didn’t invite them in because they seemed a little nervous of the dog, I found myself wanting to fetch a chair for the older of the two, a woman older than my mother. We began with what we agreed on, and our talk was cordial. But then I asked them about Jesus. “What do you believe about him?”

Distress built in me as the older woman talked about a mere human who’d simply been so incredibly good that he was, so to speak, “adopted” by God. God’s son? Yes. But was he God’s eternal Son, ONE with the Father and the Spirit, of the same essence? No.

I am not “good” in these situations. Scripture references, logic, and reasoning—all these flee, chased out by passion and fear. My brain scrambles to put together a clear plan, or to follow one of several I thought of after previous conversations like this one, but all I can do is send up a plea for help.

So, with these two beautiful women standing in front of me, brushing aside every question I had about Jesus being one with the Father, about Jesus being the Word that was in the beginning with God, I prayed. Holy Spirit, please come.

What came was not what I’d hoped for—a list of Scripture references clearly laid out. No, what came was sorrow. These women were unnecessarily trapped; they’d placed their hope in a lie. If Jesus was human only, if his death was accepted only because he’d lived a perfect life before it…

…then his sacrifice would have only made the way clear for himself, not for me, nor for these women. He would be no more than an example—“Look at him; do it exactly this way!”—an example we are incapable of duplicating.

I asked more questions, but the distress grew until it burst out of me: “But if Jesus wasn’t God, He couldn’t help me! I don’t want a human savior; what good would that do? I need God Himself to save me! No one else could!”

The rest of the conversation was still cordial, but they didn’t stay long after my comment. I told them I would love for them to come back, but I haven’t seen them again.

This is the conversation I kept remembering as I read about the Trinity this fall. I realized the longing I’d felt was not simply for a divine Savior. It was bigger, wider, deeper. It was for a Triune God who has such an excess of love within the Father, Son, and Spirit relationship that this love cannot help but overflow. It was a longing for a God who also longs for me; who deeply desires to restore the broken relationship with his creation and did this very thing through the Son; who draws us by the Spirit into true relationship with God, with neighbor.

May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of our God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit abide with us, now and forever.

Opportunity in West Chicagoland

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I picked up our sign from World Relief DuPage this past week. If you want one of your own, see #2 below.

I’ve written a couple posts in the last month about DuPage/Aurora World Relief’s budget challenges that provided opportunities for letter writing and donation, but if you’re local, I have three other opportunities for you.

I recently received an email from Jamie, the volunteer services manager at World Relief DuPage/Aurora. She highlighted several possibilities for involvement:

  1. Volunteering: “Do you love working with kids between the ages of 3 months and 5 years old? We need dedicated volunteers for our Early Childhood Program who would be willing to come alongside our teachers and provide support for kids who are adjusting to life in the U.S. and learning English. Our program has 3 different classes: 3-18 months, 18 months-2 years, 3-5 years. The classes meet in two sessions: a Monday/Thursday and Tuesday/Friday. We are looking for volunteers who can help at least once a week from 9 a.m. -11:30 a.m. (If you could help twice a week-M/Th or T/Fr-that would be wonderful, but any help is greatly appreciated.) Classes start on 1/25 and run through 5/27 with breaks for holidays and spring break. If you’re interested, please contact me (Jen) at jenunderwood0629@gmail.com, and I’ll direct you to the volunteer coordinators at the Wheaton or Aurora offices.
  2. Advocacy: Post a “We are not afraid” sign in your yard. This includes the address of a website where people can find accurate information regarding refugees and the resettlement process as a whole in the U.S. These signs can be picked up at WR’s Wheaton (1825 College Ave, Suite 230) and Aurora (73 S. LaSalle Street) offices.
  3. Put together a good neighbor kit for a refugee family settling in your area. Email me at jenunderwood0629@gmail.com for the list of items and the contact info of the New Arrivals Volunteer Coordinator.

Lastly, I’m including a prayer for refugees that we’ve been praying at my church. I’m including it here:

Lord Jesus Christ our Refuge and Deliverer, as a child you sought refuge in Egypt while fleeing from those who would persecute and harm you. Remember those today who must flee in the same manner, who find themselves in foreign and strange lands, granting them your Presence, your protection, and your provision. Illuminate us to be a shining light upon a hill amidst the dark evil in our world, that we may do our part with hospitality and resources; and that all who are refugees might be led to the brightness of Your redemptive love made present by your glorious Incarnation; You, who live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

 

The Nativity Wars (a re-post)

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Besides the five nativities with movable figures, I also have several small, fixed nativity ornaments or sets. Here are two of my favorites (plus a star) that I have hanging on my bamboo plant next to my kitchen sink (I haven’t managed to kill it yet!). My sister bought the dark wood ornaments for me in Africa, and the Peruvian carved gourd nativity is from Ten Thousand Villages.

 

Along with a tree, our family decorates our house for Christmas with lots of Christmas books and five nativity sets: one I received as a child, painted by my grandmother; three others Dave and I received for our Christmastime wedding more than twenty years ago; and one that the twins’ Sunday School teacher gave them when they were in first grade.

The girls or I arrange them just-so, in careful semi-circles so all their faces can be seen…

And then we wait for the nativity wars to begin.

The first attack this year is sneaky. I don’t even see it happen. I walk through the dining room and notice a clump, not a semi-circle, of figures on top of the piano.

He’s been at it, I think.

I check the others. Two of the remaining four have been rearranged.

I put them back in semi-circles, but just a few hours later they are all huddled together again, a crowd rather than a scene.

We all love our nativities.

But son Jake likes them arranged a little differently than anyone else.

So every year we do “battle” during the Christmas season.

We start out with sneak attacks, but pretty soon it becomes open warfare.

But we’d never talked about why he liked his arrangement–we just thought it was one of Jake’s quirks–until a few years ago.

A longtime, long-distance friend was visiting during early December. She noticed the crowded nativity on the kitchen counter and began to rearrange it. I noticed what she was doing and laughed.

“It won’t stay that way.”

“What?”

“Pretty soon Jake will come in here and push them all together again.”

“Why?”

And, suddenly, it hit me, the why. I couldn’t understand why I’d never seen it before.

“Because he wants them all close to Jesus, that’s why.” I was stating my revelation more than answering her question.

I tested my theory later that day.

“J-man, why do you like all the figures clumped like that? We can’t see their faces when you put them that way.”

His tone made it clear he was almost surprised by my reasoning. “But they can’t see Jesus when they’re all spread out.”

Aah!

After all, what’s more important—that we see their faces or that they see Jesus?

It’s a busy, busy season, and we tend to get a little caught up with the celebration of it—and, often, with how others see us celebrate it.

But what’s more important—that they see us or that we see Jesus?

So gather as close as you can, crowd into Him, stretch high on tiptoes, do whatever you need to do to fix your gaze on HIM.

Because not only is that the absolute best for us, it’s also when others get glimpses of Him, too. When we press close to Jesus they want to see what we’re so excited to see. In our wonder and awe, they catch some of the fascination of Christ’s love for us.

From glory, He put on flesh—such limitation!—and then “humbled Himself…” to “death on a cross.”

All for love!

All for us!

 

II Corinthians 8:9 “You know the generous grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty he could make you rich.”

Note 1: I first wrote this several years ago, but I love posting it at Christmastime. We still continue the nativity wars at our house, but we let Jake win!

Note 2: Ten Thousand Villages has many beautiful nativities (from small ornaments to large sets). They make wonderful Christmas gifts! The link above takes you to a page with JUST nativities on it.

Annual Gifts-that-Give-Back post

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Today is “Giving Tuesday,” did you know? The link takes you to a Youtube video that explains why Giving Tuesday was created to follow Black Friday and Cyber Monday. I thought today would be a great day to post my annual “gifts that give back” post. More and more we have the opportunity to give gifts that give twice: to the recipient AND to a ministry that practices Biblical generosity. If you have already completed all your Christmas shopping, then this post isn’t for you, but if you’re just starting to think about it (I’m in this camp!), then I hope to give you some good ideas in this post.

GENERAL GIVING

You can use Amazon.com’s Smile program and choose a charity to receive a portion of your purchase price. (Mine is locked in at Compassion International currently, but there are thousands on Amazon’s list.) The link above gives more info, and this program is not just for the holiday season but operates all year.

FOR THE TEENS/PRETEENS IN YOUR LIFE–OH, AND FOR EVERYONE ELSE, TOO!

Check out www.mudlove.com, Bel Kai, and Belove.

MudLOVE, based in Winona Lake, Indiana (home of my wonderful in-laws and my alma mater, Grace College), sells made-on-site clay bracelets, necklaces, mugs, and more. The most popular version is stamped with a word or phrase, and you can even custom order a word or phrase that has particular meaning to you. Twenty percent of each purchase goes to provide clean water in Africa, and $5 spent provides an African with clean drinking water for a year. My girls (ages 11, 15, 16, and 18) ALL love them. (Honestly, I do, too!)

Bel Kai, which sells beautiful handmade jewelry, is another company that gives-back, and when the creator of MudLOVE married the creator BelKai, Belove was created. Great story (check it out at the Bel Kai link above) and just as great products!

BIG-TICKET BEAUTY

Hand and Cloth sells gorgeous, one-of-a-kind blankets made from used saris by women rescued from the slave trade in Bangladesh. I’ve featured this ministry before on my blog (https://journeytojen.wordpress.com/2012/09/27/blankets-handmade-by-women-women-handmade-by-god/).  These are perfect buys for the person who appreciates beautiful, handmade artisan items (hmm—maybe that describes you yourself!). They start at $98 dollars and go up to around $200. Check out the blankets at the website—which itself is beautiful—and read their story while you are there. “Blankets handmade by women. Women handmade by God.” Wonderful work! (They also have stockings–each one unique! So cool!)

Renew Project is an incredible ministry. Based in my area (Chicago’s western suburbs), it trains and employs refugee women to make beautiful items from recycled textiles. Bags, baby items, tablecloths, etc., and their work is incredible (these women are artisans!). Best of all, each purchase helps a refugee woman thrive in her new home.

SIX FOR WOMEN AT RISK

If you want something other than blankets made by women rescued from the slave trade, visit WAR International. The acronym WAR, standing for Women at Risk, was started in 2006. You can find jewelry, accessories, home décor, and children’s items made by women in 13 countries, including the United States.

Narimon employs women rescued out of the sex industry in Bangkok, Thailand. the woman make beautiful jewelry, handbags, and some clothing at The Well, where the women not only work but are ministered to. Narimon is the products division of Servantworks. Seriously, their work is beautiful.

www.stoptraffickfashion.com has t-shirts, jewelry, and totes/bags made from recycled materials. Many of their t-shirts express the heart of the women who run this website. One with a barcode also has the logo “People are not products” and several sport the logo “free.loved.radiant.”

Sseko (what a cool name) Designs was started by Liz Bohannon. Read this great article about her and her business at Relevant Magazine–and shop here, too! Their tie sandals are awesome, but they’ve now branched out to bags, clothing items, scarves, etc.

Noonday Collection and Trades of Hope both offer beautiful fair trade items (primarily jewelry, scarves, bags, etc.) made by women artisans in developing countries. Great businesses, great products, great stories. I have friends involved in both of these businesses, and they are passionate about their work and what it is providing for other women around the globe. I encourage you to check out their websites.

LITTLE BIT OF EVERYTHING

Need to shop for kids, men, women—want to spend a little for this one, more for that one? Go to www.tenthousandvillages.com. Gorgeous jewelry, decorative items, and woven/knitted items for women; toys and games for children; even things like chess sets, bookends, and bicycle-chain frames for men. Their website is very easy to navigate and has some very helpful tools. If you click on the “gift ideas” tab at the top of the page, you can shop for holiday items, for men, women, or children, or by type of item.  You can spend a little (items as low as $4) or a lot. They also have shops (there is one in Glen Ellyn, IL) across the U.S. You can find a shop locater on the website.

FOR THE COFFEE LOVERS

Land of a Thousand Hills Coffee Company has “Drink Coffee. Do Good” as its motto. It started with farmers in Rwanda (the founder saw the effects of the genocide and had to do SOMETHING) and now works with farmers in Haiti and Thailand as well. They sell 100% Arabica, fairly traded, fresh roasted coffee. They sell ground, whole bean, and decaf, teas, and coffee accessories.

I Have a Bean “was created for a purpose–to positively impact the lives of post-prison men and women, their families, and the communities in which we live.” This business employs post-prison men and women. If you’re in the Wheaton area, drop in their store on Fridays for free coffee and a chat with their awesome staff!

If you’re in Chicago’s western suburbs, drop in at River City Roasters in Wheaton (if you’re not, you can visit them virtually) and pick up a few bags of their direct-trade blends, which River City Roasters roasts themselves. Sometimes they also have their Venture blend, which supports Venture Corp (www.entertheventure.com), a small nonprofit started by some young friends of ours. Each bag purchased helps support two wonderful ministries in Africa. (I am privileged to have met both Mary and Ronnie, the leaders of the two ministries Venture supports.) Speaking of Venture, you can visit its website and support its ministries through buying beautiful Ugandan necklaces. Just click on the “enter the venture” link above.

LOOKING FOR HANDCRAFTED CROCHETED ITEMS–AND MORE?

My husband just told me about this one, and I checked it out and love their website. What a great story! A group of high school guys learned to crochet simply because they wanted unique ski hats on the local slopes. Others dubbed them the Krochet Kids. Long story short (if you want to know the whole thing, visit the website), they taught these skills to women in northern Africa and then Peru, and they sell these handmade items at www.krochetkids.org. Each item carries with it the signature of the woman who crocheted it, and you can visit the website to learn her story. They’ve also branched out and now offer several ethically-made clothing and accessory items as well.

AND, FINALLY, FOR THE PERSON WHO HAS EVERYTHING

Buy them a goat—bet they don’t have that. Seriously, go to World Vision or Compassion or Open Doors USA or International Justice Mission (the links take you directly to their online gift catalogs). The first two have items like school supplies, ducks, and clean-water wells–and goats! Open Doors has items that are specific to the needs of the persecuted church worldwide, and IJM allows you to pay for trauma counseling or legal representation for those suffering injustice. You can honor someone with your gift, and that person will receive a card telling about your gift and what it will accomplish. If you want to keep the idea of giving in front of you this season, request that a print gift catalog from either World Vision or Compassion be sent to you. It’s a fantastic tool to use with kids during this season when they are constantly faced with advertisements that fool them into thinking that their “wants” are actually “needs.”

ANY OTHER IDEAS???

If you have other ideas, please leave a comment and share! I’d love to hear and share other opportunities to give gifts that give back. Feel free to share this list with others.

Thanks for reading! I sure enjoyed pulling the list together.

From dark to light

/ jdunderwood / Leave a comment

DSC_0743Daylight saving turns

The dimmer knob of the day,

And the afternoons are cut short.

Dusk chases my children in.

They stare through

windows at the settling gloom.

They are no longer young.

They remember what autumn brings.

“When?” they ask.

“When will daylight grow again?”

“Around Christmas,” I tell them.

They sigh. Still so far away!

With a more gradual movement,

A global twisting,

We lean away from the Sun.

Darkness now pursues

us home from school.

Outdoor hours are few

And precious.

Suddenly, new light!

Not much—small, twinkling,

Strung in trees, across porches—

But shining bright with hope

against the encroaching shadows.

My children’s eyes sparkle.

Though tiny, these pinpoint lights

Remind us: Christ did come!

They proclaim: He will come again!

True Light will return

Triumphant

Once and for all!

Until then, my children,

Even as dark presses close,

Let us, filled with True Light,

Shine as small beacons,

Gleam like tiny stars

Beam as heralds of Hope.

Christ has died.

Christ has risen.

Christ will come again.