CHICAGO, IL (November 17, 2011) – Want to buy a bucket of fish? Or how about a pig or a sheep?

These are but a few examples of the novel, yet important ways that donors can provide a helping hand to needy families in many of the mission areas served by the Evangelical Covenant Church.

Or, perhaps kids and camps are tugging at the heartstrings. Then consider donating a day at one of 21 Covenant camps for some deserving child. Or a scholarship that would help a teenager attend the life-changing CHIC youth conference next July. For just $300, a donor can provide education for one child in Colombia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, India or South Sudan – for a full year.

A new initiative – Covenant Cares – provides generous donors with multiple opportunities to share the love of Christ in a variety of ways. The 2011-2012 Covenant Cares Gift Catalog has just been released, presenting a wide array of gift-giving opportunities. As one donor puts it, what better way to honor a loved one during the Christmas gift-giving season than by making a gift in that individual’s name to help another deserving individual or family.

Some gift-giving opportunities are designed to help families and communities develop self-sustaining programs by providing farming tools or seeds to grow vegetable gardens that can feed an entire family.

Other opportunities address health care needs, such as gifting a package of medicines for families in Congo or a clean water system in Ethiopia. One can purchase health-screening examinations for children in Mexico or build safe, sturdy homes for those left homeless following the earthquake in Haiti.

Education is another area of vital need – gift opportunities in this area range from purchasing schoolbooks and supplies to school uniforms and bibles for students.

Several gift opportunities address the need to nurture the soul in addition to tending to physical health needs. One can purchase a collection of discipleship resources to assist a new Hispanic church plant in the United States or Canada, provide a scholarship to a Covenant pastor who otherwise cannot afford to attend the upcoming Midwinter Pastors Conference, or provide a scholarship that would allow someone to participate in the life-changing Sankofa journey.

For those with no particular area of focus in mind, a Great Commission Gift can be the perfect way to invest in the lives of others, supporting the ministry of the whole church in areas of deepening disciples, strengthening churches, developing leaders, serving globally, and loving mercy and doing justice.

The Covenant Cares 2011-2012 Gift Catalog will be distributed as part of the December issue of The Covenant Companion, can be ordered through the online Covenant Bookstore, and can be accessed by clicking here.

Simply print out the order form page from the catalog, mark the desired gift or gifts, and include a check for the appropriate amount made payable to the Evangelical Covenant Church, with Covenant Cares noted in the memo line. Mail the form and the check to the Evangelical Covenant Church, 8303 West Higgins Road, Chicago, IL 60631.

Give a gift. Change a life.