All I Want for Christmas is a Goat

Over the summer, I noticed my six-year-old son was beginning to exhibit a cultural *norm* that, as a Christian and a mother, I decidedly didn’t want him to have – materialism. So, I went off to the library and borrowed Material World, an excellent book that offers an inside glimpse into the possessions of 30 “statistically average” families from around the world. In photographs and words, we met a family from Africa whose greatest wish was a second set of clothes, and another who wished only for money to send their children to school. We met Asian families who slept on dirt floors, saw photos of flies crawling over a sleeping toddler, watched a South American woman crouch over her only pot, washing her laundry in it before cooking dinner.

The book left an impression on Jacob. (Even today, if he’s begging for something he absolutely needs, I ask him, “Do you remember that family from Mali?” and he quickly reconsiders.) As soon as we finished reading it, he wanted to know how he could help. Actually, he wanted to pack up a huge box with a sink, toilet, food, money, and clothes, and send it to every one of the needy families. When I told them that wasn’t possible, he asked what he *could* do. We went online to Samaritan’s Purse, and I told Jacob that he could pick a gift to send to a family, and he could earn money by doing extra chores to pay for it.

He looked through the catalog and chose a goat.

He needed to raise $70. Together we picked six chores for him to do each week, and he would receive $3 for doing them; I would match his earnings with $3 of my own. Then we made a chart to hang on the refrigerator so he could color in a box each week to mark his progress. We’ve since paid for one goat, and are working on a second.

If you and your family are looking for a way to show Christ’s love this holiday season – or any time! – I highly recommend Samaritan’s Purse (it gets the highest rating, 4 stars, from Charity Navigator, and 89 percent of its money go directly to program costs). It also does the Operation Christmas Child shoebox ministry, and if you go to the website, you can enter your zip code and find a drop location near you.