The community is invited to participate in First Lutheran Church’s annual Gifts of Hope Alternative Giving Market, where every penny leaves the building to support the work of 16 trusted local, regional and international partners. Local representatives from I’ve Got a Name, Lincoln Bike Kitchen, Friendship Home, PFLAG Lincoln, First Lutheran/Lincoln Food Bank BackPack program, Las Abejitas Bilingual Early Education Center and Matt Talbot Kitchen and Outreach will be available at educational displays that offer gift and donation ideas.
Members of the congregation will explain opportunities to address hunger through ELCA World Hunger’s God’s Global Barnyard, fund supplies needed for locally made quilts distributed internationally by Lutheran World Relief, contribute toward the education of a nurse in Tanzania or provide safe housing for a family.
The sale of handmade weavings, art, carvings, bags, scarves and earrings will fund micro-loans in Madagascar or make education possible for women and girls in Tanzania. Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Wahoo, Nebraska’s Mission Market Place shopkeepers, will join South Sudanese members of First Lutheran Church in gathering funds to help address the severe famine in South Sudan. Donations to Border Servant Corps will provide winter jackets for toddlers and preschoolers and shoelaces and small toys for newcomers admitted at the U.S. entry point in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Lutheran Family Services of Nebraska Veterans Programs will be on hand to explain its services and receive proceeds from the sale of items made by members of the congregation.
Olive oil pressed from olives harvested from the 800-tree grove of Lutheran World Federation’s Augusta Victoria Hospital in East Jerusalem will be for sale. All donations will be directed to patient and staff care at this regional specialty hospital known for serving all people, a model of cross-cultural collaboration and partnership and a place of healing in the midst of war.
Before the online market opens at 8:00 AM on Saturday, December 2, and closes at 10:00 PM on Sunday, December 3, take some time to browse the 2023 Gifts of Hope online catalog! The catalog is an interactive tool that can spark family conversations about holiday giving. Notice the many ways that people come together to make lives better, here, and across the globe. Links, videos and photos explain each partner’s purpose and work. Note the ways you can offer support to each of them throughout the year.
You can also visit First Lutheran Church, located at 1551 S. 70th Street in Lincoln, on Sunday, December 3, from 8:30 AM -12:45 PM to shop at the in-person market.
