Giving Tuesday seems like one more gimmick in our gimmick-addicted world.  Gimmick or not, Giving Tuesday reminds us that giving that helps others is not just a gospel imperative, but leads to joy and builds faith in our own lives. Giving Tuesday also encourages above-and-beyond giving that may stretch us past the offering plate or monthly contribution to our home congregation.

If you’re considering giving this Giving Tuesday, I offer three suggestions for your gift – causes Becky and I support and which we know help others and make the world around them a better place:

Hunting Park Christian Academy is located in North Philadelphia and serves a community of great need with quality education.  HPCA has changed the lives of students, families, and neighborhoods for over 25 years.  In a world where many of those who graduate from high school still can’t read or write and are not equipped to live full and meaningful lives, HPCA makes a profound difference.

Eye Love Africa  (or their Facebook page) is the ministry of our friends John and Jess Cropsey (and many others!) in Kigali Rwanda.  Through the Rwanda International Institute of Ophthalmology (RIIO), African doctors are being trained to treat African patients with thousands of people who lost sight due to cataracts and other treatable conditions now able to see.  Some of the stories are amazing!  John and Jess also lead times of Bible Study and fellowship for the (RIIO) interns.

Promised Land Ministries, and especially Promised Land School, also provides quality education in an area where such education is not always available.  Through the School Sponsorship program, lives, families, and communities in the Lake Atitlan region are being changed for the better and Christian faith and love proclaimed.  Here’s just one story of how PLM serves its community through the Sponsorship program.

Giving Tuesday?  It’s a good gimmick!  And these are three causes changing our world through the gospel one life at a time.  Why not give?