As Christmas approaches, our hearts and minds turn to the Bible lands, where a baby lay in a manger 2,000 years ago: Jesus our Saviour and our God.
Today His followers in the region suffer in many ways. Will you give them a gift this Christmas season, as they and we together rejoice in the Incarnation of our Lord?
There is an old tradition of celebrating “12 days of Christmas”. Below are 12 suggested gifts, one for each day, which will bring joy and practical aid to believers living in Bible lands today.
If the Lord leads you to give a Christmas gift, thank you very much. If the Lord leads you to pray for these situations, thank you very much.
Sunday 25 December
This school has high academic standards and a happy, loving Christian atmosphere.
A gift of £35 ($46; €39) could help fund one poor Christian child at the school for one month.
Please giveMonday 26 December
A gift of £10 ($12; €11.60) could provide a parcel of tasty and nourishing food items for a Christian child in Lebanon, a country reeling from many difficulties including a catastrophic economic situation.
Please giveTuesday 27 December
Give the gift of self-sufficiency! In 2023 Barnabas will fund start-up costs for 289 small businesses to provide incomes for 319 Christians in 12 Egyptian villages. Examples are tailoring, small grocery shops, selling shoes, steam car washes, photocopying, goat breeding, car batteries and many more.
The average cost to create one job is £350 ($460; €390). Ten gifts of £35 ($46; €39) could give one Christian family a long-term income.
Please giveWednesday 28 December
Food donated by Barnabas supporters in UK is shipped to Jordan to help needy Jordanian Christians, as well as Syrian and Iraqi Christian refugees in Jordan.
A gift of £3.35 ($4; €3.80) could cover the cost of shipping one family food box.
Please giveThursday 29 December
A gift of £4.40 ($5.30; €5) could buy a young pistachio tree to add to an orchard at a ministry centre in Turkey. The nuts will be sold to generate an income to support the centre.
A gift of £8.80 ($10.60; €10) could provide not only the tree but also help install the essential irrigation system to keep it thriving.
Please giveFriday 30 December
Many Christians live in the mountains of Lebanon. The high altitude makes it bitterly cold in winter. Lebanon is in a desperate economic situation and spiralling inflation means few people can afford heating oil for their homes.
A gift of £125 ($150; €140) could help keep a family warm for a month.
Please giveSaturday 31 December
Many Egyptian Christian widows struggle to support their children.
A gift of just £1.60 ($1.90; €1.80) could provide 2 kg of rice and 1 kg of flour to help a widow feed her children.
Please giveSunday 1 January
Will you give a winter coat to keep a child warm? A Christian child who has fled from Syria or Iraq to seek refuge in Jordan?
£8 ($9.60; €9.10) could buy a coat for a child aged 4 to 10.
£10.25 ($12.40; €11.70) could buy coat for an older child.
Please giveMonday 2 January
A gift of £25 ($30; €28) could pay the salary of a Sudanese Christian school-teacher for a week, educating Sudanese Christians at a basic school in Egypt.
Teachers and students alike are refugees.
Please giveTuesday 3 January
Prices are soaring in Turkey and life is especially hard for Christian refugees.
A gift of £65 ($78; €74) could provide a child with items of warm clothing and a little Christmas food.
Please giveWednesday 4 January
The economic disaster in Lebanon is so severe that some people have died because they could no longer afford to buy life-sustaining medication.
A gift of £41 ($50; €48) could provide urgently needed medicines for a chronically sick Christian
Please giveThursday 5 January
Christian refugees in Turkey cannot afford both food and heating this winter. They have to choose between them.
A gift of £21 ($25; €24) could cover gas and electricity bills for a family for two weeks so that they could stay warm and also eat.
Please give