Goats, Literacy More Popular Than Ever This Christmas

More donations were given through the Christian Reformed Church’s Christmas Gift Guide this year than ever before. And they’re still trickling in.

As of Dec. 31, gifts valuing more than $140,000 have been given through the 2006 guide, already surpassing the previous high of $133,602 set in 2002.

The annual gift guide includes a half dozen gift ideas (or projects) from each of the CRC’s four mission agencies: The Back To God Hour, Christian Reformed Home Missions, Christian Reformed World Missions and the Christian Reformed World Relief Committee. It is a collaborative initiative by these agencies in Canada and also includes projects from the CRC’s Canadian Ministries.

The most popular gifts given this year are goats (more than 2,200 at a combined value of almost $25,000), blackboards for literacy (1,352 given), and support for www.kidswelcome.org, an Internet ministry in China (more than 1,000 gifts at $1 each).

Gifts for the 2006 guide will still be received up to the end of January. Click to view it online.

The 2007 Christmas Gift Guide will be available in October and will be distributed to CRC members in the 250-plus Canadian congregations and to Christian schools across the county.