Last year we started something in response to our adults doing for the Advent conspiracy. We were looking for ways to get our kids involved a few of the charities our church was supporting were Love146.org an amazing organization but what they do wasn’t the easiest to translate to our kids. We decided to use our Uptown store as an outlet for our kids to learn that Christmas is not about how much we can get but about what we can give to others.
We partner with Franklin Graham’s Samaritan’s Purse – Gift Catalog. We choose a few items from their catalog and make our own and allow kids to discuss with their parents which ones they would like to use their points to buy. It creates a built in opportunity for us to discuss how Christmas is about what we can give and what we have been given not just what we can and will get. More importantly it gives parents an opportunity to discuss these same things with their kids at home.
We use the Bible Bucks 2.0 software kids buy stuff from the catalog at our store at the end of the Christmas season we add all the items up and order them online from Samaritan’s Purse. It was a hit last year and we are looking forward to it again this year.
[Below is a copy of the letter we send to the parents and the catalog we give them.]
The Uptown Christmas Catalog
It seems like with every flyer and every TV ad pointing our kids towards the newest greatest toy they can’t live without, the message of Christmas gets more and more faint. As a parent I know sometimes the title wave of all the things Christmas isn’t can be almost overwhelming.
In response to this this year we want to offer the following items for purchase from the Uptown store. You and your child can decide if they want to spend points on any of the below items. More than just offering these items to your children to use their uptown points to make a difference, please use this as an opportunity to talk to your kids about how they can make a difference in their world one small step at a time. Jesus came into our world to serve not to be served. Thanks for making a difference.
Merry Christmas.
Proverbs 28:27
He who gives to the poor will lack nothing, but he who closes his eyes to them receives many curses.