Christmas Eve will arrive three months from tonight. The last few years I’ve growing increasingly concerned to give gifts with a purpose at Christmas that give hope and change lives. We all enjoy saying thanks to family, friends, and colleagues by giving gifts at Christmas. But we often don’t know what to get someone who already has so much—we don’t just want to give a gift that will wind up being given away at next year’s “white elephant” gift exchange. We all want to give a lasting gift that expresses authentic love and gratitude, but we often don’t know how to go about it. We would love for our Christmas gifts to make a lasting difference, but we need to know how.

This may sound strange, but I believe that a goat can change the world—not change the entire world, but change the world for one boy or girl in Africa.

With congress debating a $700 billion bailout of Wall Street, it’s easy for those of us who live on Main Street to sell short the life-changing effect the gift of one goat can make in the life of a girl or boy. Nicholas Kristof of The New York Times has written a wonderful Op-Ed piece on how one goat changed the life of a young girl named Beatrice in Uganda. Through the generosity of a local church, Heifer International gave a goat to Beatrice and her family. I won’t tell you the whole story here. You can read it online at http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/03/opinion/03kristof.html?em. Suffice it to say that one goat truly can change the world.

I myself have experienced the life-changing impact one goat can have. This last fall I traveled to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, and Ghana. Because of the generosity of so many people, I was able to give away over 100 goats to disabled children, elderly men and women, and needy families. I do not know the stories of all the goats we gave away, but here are three vignettes of goats who are changing lives in Africa:

Seraphim and Pasie: Goats Change the Lives of Two Disabled Children

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, I traveled with my friend Celestin Chishibanji to a small village surrounded by banana trees. After bouncing and splashing and spinning our tires through mud hole after mud hole after mud hole we finally made it.

In this village, named Mudaka, I met two disabled children who have changed my life. Seraphim, a young boy of 11 was covered from head to toe in dirt. The only clean things on his body were his eyes and the inside of his mouth. His legs were so atrophied that they looked more like flesh-covered sticks than legs.

Pasie is a beautiful young who is 14-years-old. Pasie was much cleaner than Seraphim, even though she, like him, must slide along the ground on her hands, bottom, and feet to get around.

We gave the entire village 20 goats, but Seraphim and Pasie received the first 2 goats. The look of joy on Seraphim and Pasie’s faces as they learned they were going to receive a goat is something I hope never to forget. Seraphim was particularly beside himself, asking and bouncing with joy: “Am I really going to get my own goat? To keep forever? Am I getting my goat now? My mom is coming!”

Pasie was much more subdued with her excitement, but she couldn’t help grinning from ear-to-ear at times. I was praying that this would be one of the best days of their short, incredibly difficult lives. Celestin and I were beside ourselves with excitement for them. It was like they were the star attractions—for at least one day in their lives. It was a priceless experience.

A Goat Pays for a New Mother’s Medical Bill

My friend Frank Mills who lives in Accra, Ghana, was visiting his wife in the hospital after the birth of their third child. He and his wife, Hanna, started talking to the woman in the bed next to them. As they got to know this woman, they discovered that she had been in the hospital for over a week, because she and her husband did not have enough money to pay her medical bill. In Ghana, unlike the U.S., they keep you in the hospital until you can pay your hospital bill. Their belief is that this is the only way they’ll ever get paid. They don’t provide food for patients-that’s the family’s responsibility—so it’s not like the hospital is out any money.

The goats my church gave Frank the year before had been blessed with several babies. After hearing about this woman’s plight, Frank’s church decided that they would sell one of these goats to pay this woman’s medical bills. Not only can a goat change a life, it can also pay for the birth of a baby!

While one person may not be able to change the world, I truly believe that one person can change the world for one girl or boy through the gift of a goat.

Please join with me in giving gifts with a purpose this Christmas. The goat you buy for a loved one might just change the world.

Joe

Here are pictures of Pasie and Seraphim. Their joy is contagious!