Giving Tuesday Recommendations
Let’s Make A Difference This Giving Tuesday!
This year, Giving Tuesday is on November 28th and I’d love for YOU - my friends and family - to join me in making a difference.
How?
Below are 6 great organizations doing amazing work across the USA and around the world. Would you consider making a special financial gift to one of them this Giving Tuesday?
Here’s my list of 6 organizations you should consider supporting this Giving Tuesday (and into 2024 too)!
Streetlights Bible App:
My favorite app on my phone is also my favorite way to spend time in God’s Word - the Streetlights Bible app. The Streetlights team is developing an amazing audio Bible (with voices from around the world and with original music included) book by book. They are close to completing the audio Bible in both English and Spanish in a format that brings “God’s Word and [the] Gospel Light to this generation.”
It’s a phenomenal, free resource for diving into the Bible. I listen to it in the car, while folding laundry, and with my kids during breakfast/get-out-the-door-to-school routine. And I love that it is much more engaging than a monotone British voice actor reading through the Bible.
I’d encourage you to download the app yourself, recommend it to a teenager/young adult in your life, and prayerful consider supporting Streetlights as they seek to reach their year-end fundraising goal and engage more people with the transformative Word of God!
2. Shepherd Community Center:
Anyone who knows me also knows how deep my love is for Shepherd Community Center on the near Eastside of Indianapolis. I spent 20 years growing up and then serving on staff at Shepherd. I deeply appreciate the work that Shepherd is engaged in with their neighbors to break cycles of poverty in their community through addressing the physical, emotional, educational, and spiritual needs of children, teens, and adults in their neighborhood.
One of my favorite events at Shepherd is their annual Christmas store where parents are able to shop for gifts for their children at a significantly reduced cost in order to empower parents and share the Good News of Christmas with neighbors.
You can support Shepherd Community Center and their 2023 Toy Drive here.
3. Rest Stop Ministries:
Rest Stop Ministries is an incredible non-profit here in Tennessee that is “dedicated to comprehensively restoring female survivors of domestic sex trafficking. We follow a housing-first model and provide holistic survivor-centered, trauma-informed care in a long-term residential community.”
Directed by my friend Dr. Rondy Smith, Rest Stop Ministries is producing meaningful, long-term change in the lives of women and equipping their residents for lives of flourishing and hope.
Consider joining their Giving Tuesday efforts and combat the horrendous evil of sex trafficking.
Learn more and support their work in life transformation by clicking here.
4. Harvest Hands CDC:
I serve in the 37210 zip code here at Trevecca Community Church and my favorite neighborhood nonprofit is Harvest Hands CDC. They have been journeying for years with children, teens, and their families in our community as they seek to be a catalyst for Christ-centered, holistic community development.
From after-school training and summer programming to job training and mentorship, Harvest Hands is investing in the lives of our future community leaders and change makers.
And their social enterprise, Humphreys Street Coffee, roasts and brews my favorite coffee anywhere in Tennessee.
Support their after-school programming here or consider supporting their work through buying their incredible coffee here.
5. With God Daily by Skye Jethani:
Skye Jethani provides one of my favorite daily devotionals right to my inbox. The “With God Daily” devotional shares Skye’s great balance of theological rigor, engaging wit, and compassionate heart on Biblical concepts and passages of Scripture.
Here’s how Skye’s website describes the devotional: “Smart rather than sentimental and curious rather than cliche, this is unlike any devotional you’ve read before. With God Daily is designed for a digital generation seeking an integrated faith. Drawing from Scripture, history, art, science, philosophy, and current events, the reflections of award-winning author Skye Jethani will deepen your communion with God and transform how you see the world.”
6. The Chalmers Center:
From the authors of the incredible book “When Helping Hurts”, The Chalmers Center is a phenomenal resource for learning about holistic poverty alleviation in local church and community centers. They provide webinars, books, articles, and courses aimed at equipping the Church to better serve our neighbors and work together toward addressing poverty.
Here is their annual report and you can support their work here.
My hope is that these recommendations will introduce (or reintroduce) you to a few amazing organizations making a difference on local, national, and global scales. And I hope you find one or two ways to engage in #GivingTuesday this year.
Also - comment below with other organizations you will be supporting on Giving Tuesday (and beyond)!
