As Christmas approaches, our hearts and minds turn to a baby lying in a manger 2,000 years ago: Jesus our Savior and our God.
Today His followers all around the world suffer in many ways. Will you give them a gift this Christmas season, as we all rejoice together in the incarnation of our Lord?
There is an old tradition of celebrating “12 Days of Christmas.”
Below are 12 suggested gifts, one for each day, which will bring joy and practical aid to believers around the world.
This is a meaningful way to bless our suffering brothers and sisters, and it also offers an opportunity to take advantage of your end-of-year tax deduction.
If the Lord leads you to give a Christmas gift, we thank you deeply for your generosity. If the Lord leads you to pray for those facing suffering, we are equally grateful for your intercession.
Day 1 – Lebanon: Christians in Crisis
Friday, December 20
The recent conflict in Lebanon displaced tens of thousands of Christians from their homes. Historic Christian communities in the south of the country were uprooted.
“People have lost homes and jobs,” said one of Barnabas Aid’s Lebanese project partners. “They have lost any financial help that they would usually receive.”
Even with the tenuous ceasefire, there is fear and uncertainty. Our brothers and sisters are still in need of food and other necessities.
Can you help us to provide food, warmth, and other essentials as winter takes hold in Lebanon?
$20 could pay for an emergency relief box containing essential food and hygiene items.
Day 2 – Give the Gift of Water to Believers in Ghana this Christmas
Saturday, December 21
Can you imagine not having a safe and reliable supply of drinking water for you or your family?
Millions of people in Ghana are without access to clean water, including many impoverished Christians in rural communities. An estimated three-quarters of households in this West African country are at risk of drinking water that has been contaminated with animal waste.
Barnabas Aid project partners have developed plans to drill boreholes and supply clean and safe water in 24 Christian villages in Muslim-majority northern Ghana.
Can you provide the life-giving gift of water today?
Ten gifts of $153.60 could cover the cost of siting and drilling a borehole for one Christian village.
Day 3 – A Worsening Hunger Crisis
Sunday, December 22
While many of us will be looking forward to a traditional Christmas Day lunch, many of our brothers and sisters are suffering hunger and malnutrition.
A global food crisis has left more than 300 million people worldwide facing acute hunger. This number continues to grow. Thousands and thousands of Christians are among those suffering. Some are chronically malnourished, others on the brink of starvation.
In 2024 alone we have provided 5.2 million servings of food to hungry believers through our food.gives project.
Could you make a donation towards food.gives running costs or shipping costs that will help us provide urgently needed food aid in places such Cuba, Jordan, or Lebanon?
Day 4 – Opportunity Africa: Enabling Christian Farmers to Provide for their Families and their Community
Monday, December 23
“You have not just given us food and a means of livelihood; Barnabas Aid has covered our shame and restored our dignity,” said one of 20 displaced Nigerian Christian farmers who lost everything when their homes and food stores were burned down in an anti-Christian attack.
We have given the 20 farmers piglets to rear in other Christian villages, in a relatively safer area. The pigs will not be stolen by Islamist militants, who will not want to touch them.
But anti-Christian violence continues in Nigeria every day. Many more believers have had animals stolen or been forced from their lands.
Can you help us to provide a livelihood and dignity for even more Nigerian Christians?
$60 could provide a pig for a Christian farmer in Nigeria.
Day 5 – Help Send God’s Word to Persecuted and Suffering Christians
Tuesday, December 24
“After 68 years of praying, God has answered my prayers today,” said “Meng” – who had walked 97 miles to receive a Bible. “This is the happiest and most joyous day in my life!”
We had the privilege of delivering a Bible to Meng, and 94,000 other believers in Myanmar, a country marked by intense anti-Christian persecution.
But many of our brothers and sisters in Christ around the world are without the Bible – something that we often take for granted.
Can you help us to continue this good work? Will you please give your best gift today to help provide Bibles to those who are being persecuted and suffering for their faith in Jesus?
$7 is the typical cost of one Bible. A gift of $70 could provide ten Bibles.
Day 6 – Help Needed for our Suffering Christian Family in the Holy Land
Wednesday, December 25
Christians in the Holy Land continue to face uncertainty and fear as conflict rages all around them.
This historic region is witnessing challenges that threaten the survival of its Christian population, once thriving but now dwindling due to political instability, economic hardship, and limited opportunities.
Believers are enduring terrible poverty – worsened by the collapse of the tourist industry in which many of them worked. Some families are struggling to provide for their children.
You can help. Could you provide food, warm winter clothing, and other essentials to our Christian brothers and sisters in the land where our Savior was born?
$54 could pay for a food parcel that will sustain a family of five for up to two months.
Day 7 – Shipping Food Aid to Hungry Christians
Thursday, December 26
“Only God knows how we are going to survive until the next harvest next year,” said Georgina, a farmer in the Mudzi district of Christian-majority Zimbabwe.
“I did not harvest anything after all my effort and using all our savings to buy seeds.”
Zimbabwe is one of several southern African countries suffering a worsening hunger crisis caused by an ongoing drought.
food.gives is your opportunity to share your food with hungry believers around the world. We ship food from lands where food is more plentiful, to Christian communities in lands of scarcity.
Could you prayerfully consider donating towards the cost of shipping and distributing this vital food aid?
Day 8 – Winter Warmth for Christians in Central Asia
Friday, December 27
Christian families in Kyrgyzstan are facing a “critical” situation as winter takes hold, reports a Barnabas aid contact in the region.
Impoverished and marginalized, these believers lack the means to buy food and any means of warmth.
Winter temperatures here can dip as low as -40°F, causing not just discomfort but danger to health. Inflation has led to a 20% increase in food prices.
Many of the Christians here are Muslim-background believers, despised by their neighbors, their families and their former friends.
They can no longer rely on the help of their earthly families. Could you – their spiritual family – step in to provide food, hygiene items and coal that will sustain them though the harsh winter?
$50 could provide enough coal to keep a family warm through one month of the harsh Kyrgyz winter.
Day 9 - Disaster Relief
Saturday, December 28
“No food, no shelter, no clean water, no medication. … We are left with nothing.”
This was the stark assessment that Isaac – a South Sudanese Christian displaced by flooding – gave to our project partner after he and thousands of others were displaced by devastating floods.
In 2024 Barnabas Aid has provided support for flood-affected believers in Bangladesh, Brazil, Kenya, Nigeria, and Uganda, among other disaster relief projects.
Sadly we know that natural disasters such as this will continue until our Lord returns. Could you donate today so that we can be ready to respond swiftly the next time that disaster strikes?
$17 could buy 1,000 water purification tablets
Day 10 – Pakistan Schools
Sunday, December 29
Merry dreams of becoming a doctor. But as an 11-year-old Christian girl in Pakistan she faces discrimination, marginalization, and poverty, an uphill struggle that many other children will never face.
Barnabas Aid funds Christian schools that help Christian children in Pakistan get the start in life that they would otherwise go without.
Merry is one of those attending a Barnabas-funded school. “My teacher teaches us with love and care,” she says. “I have a great opportunity to learn about my Christian religion at this Christian school.”
But there are many others who still don’t have this opportunity. Could you help us to continue our vital work by making a small donation to support Christian children like Merry?
$11 is a typical cost to support a Pakistani Christian child in school for a month.
Day 11 – Help and Hope for Nigerian Victims of anti-Christian Violence
Monday, December 30
At least 45,000 Christians in northern and Middle Belt Nigeria have been killed by Islamists since 2009. Many have fled their homes to escape anti-Christian violence.
Through our project partners, Barnabas is helping vulnerable Christian communities to sustain themselves. We provide training and medical backpacks so that volunteer first responders can provide life-saving care for those who have been injured.
Can you help us to continue providing these resources which are a lifeline for Nigerian Christians?
$180 could provide a medical backpack, including medicine, bandages, sterile gauze and antiseptics.
Day 12 – Free Christian Families from Slavery in Pakistan
Tuesday, December 31
“I couldn’t even afford one meal a day,” says Nadeem, a Christian brick kiln worker in Pakistan.
Brick kiln workers are among the most impoverished of people in Pakistan.
A large chunk of the already low wages of Nadeem and his wife Yasmin was being kept back by his employer as a loan repayment. The couple had to accept this agreement to fund vital treatment for their daughter Muqadas, a diabetic.
Brick kiln owners apply unmanageable levels of interest to their employees’ debt. Since the debt may never be paid off in full, it is passed on to the workers’ children, and sometimes even their grandchildren.
Praise God that Nadeem, Yasmin and their children are among 100 families that have been freed from bonded labor in the 23rd phase of Barnabas Aid’s loan repayment project.
Please prayerfully consider giving any amount you can to help set more Christian families free.
A gift of between $360 and $1,200 could free a Christian brick-kiln family from slavery.
