Faith Based Investing

Slowly Rebuilding

What will the near-term impact be for the world economy?

Soldier are Heroes!

Soldiers are heros who offer their lives to serve the country and its beliefs. Taken away from their families, they face life threatening dangers on a daily basis. The holidays are particularly lonely as this special time is meant to be spent with family and loved ones. Many Americans believe it’s important to make the soldiers feel loved and appreciated during Christmas, which is why they have founded many charities that help soldiers and their families to have a happy holiday. Below are some charities that work hard to give Christmas to American soldiers and their families.

Operation Christmas Cards for Troops

What’s it about: The Operation Christmas Cards for Troops collects Christmas cards from people all over the world to send to deployed troops during Christmas. This act helps our soldiers feel remembered during a time when they miss their families and friends most.

How you can help: Extend your appreciation and warm wishes to our soldiers by writing and sending them a holiday card. This is a great way to boost their morale and keep them inspired!

Operation Christmas Aloha

What’s it about: Operation Christmas Aloha is a yearly event that offers the members the opportunity to send our soldiers a Christmas gift. The group believes that what they do is small compared to the service that the military does for the country. This is why they find it fitting to support soldiers by sending gifts and packages.

How you can help: Donate small packages and gifts to Oahu Ohana, who will then send these presents to soldiers during the holidays.

Holiday Mail for Heroes

What’s it about: Holiday Mail for Heroes is a charity by Red Cross that sends out holiday mail to soldiers. The soldiers who perform exceptional sacrifices deserve a boost and inspiration, especially during this particular time of year.

How you can help: You can put smiles on the face of each soldier by writing them a letter. Everyone is invited to send holiday cards to the American service members, their families, and veterans all over the world. The Red Cross workers will deliver these holiday greetings to servicemen in their communities.

Christmas Adopt-a-Soldier Program

What’s it about: Adopt-a-Soldier is a program wherein local families in El Paso invite a Fort Bliss soldier to their home for a home-cooked holiday meal. Fort Bliss and El Paso have teamed up to provide each soldier with a host family to make them feel at home during Christmas.

How you can help: If you would like to be a host family for a soldier, you can simply contact the Adopt-a-Soldier program through their website. Soldiers who would like to be adopted can fill out a form and once their information is consolidated, they will receive the contact information for their host family

Soldier’s Secret Santa

What’s it about: The Soldier’s Secret Santa provides gifts for the children of soldiers by
soliciting donations from grateful and compassionate citizens. Soldier’s Secret Santa was founded to fill a need in the 101st Airborne Division, who was in Iraq. In
December, the unit lost a soldier and this was not only affecting the soldiers in the field, but also their families back at Kentucky. Being that it was the holidays, they decided something had to be done to make sure that their families still had something to celebrate. When they asked for donations during the first year, they were able to raise enough money to help five families and eighteen children. Every family received a card telling them about how much the profession of the soldier is respected.

How you can help: You can help by donating through the website of Soldier’s Secret Santa, or by giving your donation directly to their board members. You can also help the organization by offering your services. All donations go to the children of US Soldiers or to their families.

There are many ways to make our soldiers and their families feel appreciated, and one great way is to donate to one of these charities. Soldiers should experience an abundant Christmas, whether they are deployed overseas or at a US base. Whether you are donating gifts or your time by volunteering, your help will go a long way.

Isabella York is a mother who has dedicated herself to helping other families this holiday season. Along with raising her son, she works for Balsam Hill, a purveyor of Artificial Christmas Trees and Christmas Trees.

Tough times hurt churches and ministries too!

The downturn has forced many of your favorite churches, ministries, and charities to amend their services and assistance. They need your help.

Your money can make a big difference to the kingdom!  Many people, just like you are coming to the rescue of these organizations with life income gifts and gifts of life insurance – financial moves that have perks for donors as well as the ministries of choice.

Gift annuities. A life income gift, also known as a gift annuity, offers a donor some potentially superb benefits. A gift annuity is a simple agreement with a ministry organization, by which you make an irrevocable gift of cash, appreciated securities or real estate. In return, you (and/or one other person you select) receive a fixed annual income that the arts organization is obligated to pay to you.

Click here to read more »

In the ongoing struggle to save the unborn, we often times lose sight of the mothers who are pondering this most horrific choice. Many of these girls and women do not realize that there truly is a “choice” other than abortion. They don’t know that there are options out there for prenatal care as well as counseling services.

Choices Medical Clinic is located across the street from the late Dr. George Tiller’s abortion clinic where partial-birth abortions were once performed. Many women who originally sought to have an abortion, have ended up at Choices and have opted for life for their babies and many have given their lives to Christ because of the loving witness of the workers there.

Choices Medical Clinic offers women who are faced with an unplanned or unwanted pregnancy the choice of life for their babies as well as prenatal care and an opportunity to hear the Good News of Salvation through Christ Jesus. Mothers can receive free prenatal care provided by a physician, pregnancy testing and ultrasound examinations. Often times, it is these ultrasounds that are the deciding factor in a woman’s decision to keep her baby.

The volunteers who work at Choices Medical Clinic are Christians. As they talk with the women who come through the doors, they share with them the love of Christ and offer spiritual and emotional assistance as well as the physical assistance. It is this all encompassing mission of Choices Medical Clinic which makes it such a wonderful option. A perinatal hospice program is also offered to women who have been told their unborn babies will either die during birth or shortly thereafter. This is such a blessing to those women who have been urged to have an abortion rather than carry their babies to term.

So in our continued efforts to stamp out abortion, let us not forget the mothers. Let us be there to care for their physical, spiritual and emotional needs. In this way, we can save one life at a time. Please visit their website at http://www.choicesmc.org/index.php.

I would like to share information about a charity that is near and dear to my heart: Food for the Poor. We have been faithfully giving to this wonderful organization for a few years now. I can’t begin to describe how it has touched my heart and filled me with such a sense of urgency in assisting the poor and needy.

Food for the Poor is a ministry that was established in 1982 to assist the impoverished people in 17 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. This ministry strives to reflect God’s unconditional love with every person it serves. A Christian organization, it believes that our living Lord can best be served by assisting those in greatest need. In fact, the scripture that is at the core of the ministry is Matthew 25:31-46. Click here to read more »