Do more than exchange presents this Christmas! Help a missionary reach others with the true message of Christmas – the Gospel of Jesus Christ! Here are ways you can meaningfully and intentionally give to your missionaries this Christmas season!
Don’t miss the GIVEAWAY at the bottom of this post!
You can win a $75 SHOPPING SPREE to a missionary family’s Lilla Rose store!
It’s hard not to be selfish during the holidays. We think about presents and traditions and decorations and family gatherings, and even though we read Advent stories and try hard to focus on Jesus, it’s easy to fall short and wonder if we did “enough.”
There are lots of ways to edge the selfishness out of the Christmas season, but one long-lasting way is to focus on the people who are working day in and day out spreading the Gospel far beyond December.
How to Help Missionaries During the Holidays
Send a care package
Much like being a deployed soldier, being a missionary during the holidays can be terribly lonely. They are away from family and friends, there are cultural and language barriers that make all the old familiar traditions surrounding Christmas nonexistent, and they may find themselves battling end-of-the-year fatigue.
Missionaries give and give all year long, so bolster them with encouragement and an outpouring of love in the form of a care package! This post has a fantastic list of ideas and things to think about when sending a care package.
Include them in your Christmas Card list (and throw in an Amazon Gift Card!)
A missionary friend recently told me that in the 3 years they have been on the mission field, she can count on one hand the number of personal letters they have received. She said she often feels “forgotten.” Simply adding them to your Christmas Card list and sharing your life with them and letting them know you are praying for them is wonderful, BUT you could take it up a notch and send a gift card for online retailers (like Amazon) if they are able to purchase things that way. Many missionaries have US addresses where they can pick items up a couple of times a year.
Purchase products from missionaries
You may be surprised to know that many missionaries have side jobs and online businesses to help them financially stay on the mission field. Some missionaries sell digital products on their blogs, others have online storefronts for physical products like my friend Misty, who sells Lilla Rose hair accessories to supplement her family’s needs on the mission field.
(WIN A $75 LILLA ROSE SHOPPING SPREE BELOW!)
A couple of ways you can help Misty’s family (who are also a large, homeschooling family!):
1 – Order Christmas gifts from her site – Sweet Hairlooms
BONUS: The first 10 people (new customers only) to register on her site and spend $50 will receive a FREE ITEM of their choice – up to $17. (Reward will not come with your order and is only redeemed by emailing Misty directly after placing your order. The free item can be stacked with the Monthly Special – shown below!)
2 – Join her team as a Lilla Rose Consultant yourself!
Misty informed me that October is a great time to join because the Enrollment Kit is only $99 this month! By joining her team, every sale you make not only helps your family, but hers as well!
Watch the Lilla Rose business opportunity video –> HERE!
Meet a specific need
Don’t be afraid to ask a missionary family what they need, or even just something they may “want.” Be specific, and designate your money to that need. When you say exactly what you would like your money to go for, it helps missionaries know how to best allocate those funds.
And remember, they are often reluctant to do much of anything for themselves because they do not want to misuse the gifts and funds they receive. Consider sending money designated for a “date night” or “family outing” – something they may be hesitant to mention, but can definitely be a very real need.
Go shopping for them
Get a list of sizes and needs for the family, and head to the thrift store to see what you can find. Missionaries either have to buy new or do without – they don’t mind nice thrift store clothes or even clothing you no longer need!
Also, get a list of food items they do not have access to and send those items in a box of food (a friend of mine said she missed chocolate chips the most while living in India!). Do consider if your missionary will need to pay duty on the other end – you would hate for your gift to cost them!
Encourage them with handwritten notes
In this day and age, it is much easier to type out an email and send it off, but the care that goes into handwritten notes, prayers, pictures drawn by your children, and little tokens of your care and kindness are so encouraging to missionaries! (For instance, bookmarks and stickers are easy to send in an card.)
Pray
This may seem like a given, but how many times do you actually pray for missionaries? Get their card and put it up on your refrigerator. Set your phone to remind you to pray. Tell your kids what you are doing and have them hold you accountable and pray along with you. Add learning about your missionary and praying for them to your homeschool day. Missionaries need our prayers more than anything, because prayer changes lives!
NOW FOR THE GIVEAWAY!
Before you begin: Misty’s video below will help you choose what sizes you need to order.
(plus, you’ll get an entry just for watching it!)
JesSica thompson says
One of my favorite ways to keep Christ in Christmas is to do a advent calendar of sorts, but with Christmas story bible verses. We have an elf friend that visits us, and he brings us the verses. They are made into ornaments (usually just printed on computer paper and tied with yarn to hang them). It’s a short daily reminder during the Christmas season why our family celebrates Christmas. 🙂
Laurie Moudy says
We were missionaries in Nicaragua so we understand the loneliness you can feel. We stay in touch with our friends from there and this year I’d love to give gift cards to a few of the families to use while home on furlough.
Robin says
The flexi clips look like they would be so helpful. They are beautiful
Rebecca says
We try to read a lot of books during the Christmas season, keeping the in mind the true reason for the season. We don’t vary from our church routine and we try to so extra service projects as well.
Kary says
We are a family of five. We participate in Operation Christmas Child, support two local food banks, and a children’s home through our church. Our teen daughter has a friend who is a missionary in Hungary. But we’ll be doing something special for her this Christmas.
Becky says
My kids do not get gifts from Santa. They know Santa to be a make-believe character. I stead, we explain that Christmas is the celebration of Christ’s birth, and that the gifts we give each other are kind of like how kids get goodie bags at a birthday party. We also limit the gifts each gets to three gifts each.
Nicole says
This year I have enough little that are able to read, so I am going to have them each read parts of the Christmas Story (Luke 2). Also we limit Christmas decorations to ones that focus on Christ. We also help each of our children with an Operation Christmas Child shoebox which really helps them think of others.
Casey norris says
Our school is participating in Operation Christmas Child, we are very excited about it.
KENNETH a OHL says
through our church for sure
Savannah says
Love the flexi clips, wish we had a couple more for the girls and I!
Deanna Foreman says
Love her hair items. They are so beautiful and classy.
Jacquie Forrer says
I have a Christmas book I love to use at the beginning of the Christmas season. It’s a little boy who does acts of kindness to help others and each thing is placed in a silver box by his non. On Christmas they open the “gift for Jesus” and it’s a reminder of all the things they did to be the hands and feet of Jesus. It’s called the sparkle box and comes with a box to use!
Rasch says
My family keeps Christ in Christmas by volunteering at an Operation Christmas Child center and by doing random acts of Christmas kindness with the RACK printables from Not Consumed Ministries. https://www.notconsumed.com/random-acts-of-christmas-kindness-printables
Marilyn says
We are going to read all o our Advent books and put up the Manger.
Marilyn
Marilyn says
I have long hair so the flexi clips do the job.
Marilyn
Erika says
One way we keep Christ in Christmas is each day in December, we hang an ornament with a name of God on our tree and we read Scripture passages related to that name.
JasmIne says
Our goal is always to keep Christ first in Christmas. However, I hadn’t made any definite plans on something specific to do this year. That though has challenged me so. now I shall have to consider what we should do.
Jessica says
My family makes/puts together gifts for the widows in our church at Christmas. We want to show them the love of Jesus at Christmas, and let them know they are loved and remembered at what can be a lonely/difficult time of year.
Adriana says
We pull out our special Christmas books and leave them out for the kids to read. As well as do advent ornaments, and a fun Christmas activity book that the kids get to do only at Christmas.
Stacy says
We participate in Operation Christmas Child, read lots of Christmas books about the real reason for Christmas, and always look for people to bless during the holiday season.
Kaley says
Thank you for this reminder! This is something I don’t think about enough. Our wonderful missionaries. Will definitely be including them in my small business shopping this holiday season.
Patti P says
We plan on keeping Christ in Christmas by limiting our outside obligations and limiting the number of gifts we buy.
Rebecca Mohr says
Love Lilla Rose flexi clips!
Debbie Ratte says
We do Shepherd on the Search with our girls
They have a new verse in their ancient calendar every day as well as an activity related to the story of Mary and Joseph’s journey; as we move the shepherd closer and closer to the manger. Baby Jesus gets nestled in his manger box on Christmas night when we put their presents out, or we let them do it in the morning, it just depends on the year.
We do have a missionary family serving overseas and we continue to them monthly. They’ve just moved and communication has been haphazard as they were very very rural. Thank you for the christmas card idea, i’ll message them to see if that’s a possibility this year.
JULIE says
We always set out our manger scene on the hope chest. Some people have ask why I don’t put it on my mantel and I tell them that we use the hope chest because Jesus is the light of the world & all our hope is in Him!! We read the Christmas story when we get it all set up and turn the little lights on around it. It’s a crystal set so it really shines and is the first thing you see when you enter the living area. We see the tree & gifts but your attention is turned to the Nativity, and the true gift and meaning of Christmas. Its a tradition I hope my kids will continue as they have families of their own.
Kim Rudolph says
These clips look like they would not cause nearly as much hair breakage as usual clips.
S. Trstenjak says
We recently filled two shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child. I think this is a wonderful opportunity and really seemed to impact my 8 year old twins. I hope to continue this year, as last year, advent devotions with myself and my oldest two children. With the younger children, I’m going to looking into Focus on the Family’s Advent items for this year. I have a “set” from a couple/few years back. I like that one so much, we’ve done it two different years. Thank you for the give away!
S. Trstenjak says
*advent devotionals
Judith Martinez says
I plan on doing an advent devotional to keep Christ in Christmas.
Amy says
We send encouraging Christmas cards with a focus on Jesus as well as read the applicable Scripture as a family so that we learn/remember what Christ did for us.
Melodee says
We keep Advent all the way until Midnight on Christmas Eve. So all the Christmas treats are stored away until Christmas Day. We decorate just a few days before Christmas, but leave Baby Jesus out of all our mangers. After Midnight on Christmas Eve, the Littles are very excited to finally place Baby Jesus in his manger.
Dena M says
We set out a nativity set in a prominent place when we put out all of our Christmas décor on the day after Thanksgiving. We read the story of Christ’s birth in all four gospels on Christmas Day.