Season of Gifting

Kiwis have started to embrace the US shopping frenzy of Black Friday (Nov 23) and Cyber Monday (Nov 26) – signalling the start of the Christmas shopping season. As we start to think about Christmas celebrations and gifts for the festive season, here is a blog piece by Andrew Shepherd, A Rocha’s National Co-Director, written especially for this season of shopping and gifting, challenging us to gift with a difference.

If you’d like to gift with a difference, do consider donating and supporting A Rocha’s work in New Zealand, or you can buy a gift through A Rocha International’s Gifts with a Difference website.

Last Christmas, Coventry Vineyard Church in the UK raised funds to purchase 63 bio-sand filters, offering nearly 1200 people access to clean, safe drinking water. “They are such a significant way to bless a whole family – and a community,” says Vicki Sutton, Senior Pastor. “We’re not a massive church with huge resources, but Gifts with a Difference enabled us to genuinely make a difference.”

The bio-sand filters remove 99% of pathogens and parasites from any water source without the need for chemical treatment or boiling. Reduced charcoal use means that families have more money to spend on other essentials and, with fewer trees needing to be cut down, habitats are protected. Check out this short video showing the difference the gift is making for families in Uganda.