	A goat is not just for Christmas…
	Last Christmas many people at Norbury signed the large church ‘Christmas card’ and gave a donation to Christian Aid. Thanks to the generosity of many we were able to send over £500 which funded a 'borehole tubewell' enabling a village in Bangladesh to have access to reliable clean safe water; two herds of goats to help farmers in Bolivia; six pigs to help farmers in Nicaragua; 4,000 saplings to help prevent mudslides caused by tropical storms in Honduras and two 'resettlement packs' containing maize, beans, pans, plates, an axe and a hoe to help farmers in Angola rebuild their livelihoods. This was a wonderful achievement. However, Christmas comes but once a year and there are many other special occasions that can be marked in a similar way. Christian Aid has recently sent out a new ‘present aid’ catalogue with ‘year round’ gift ideas. So how about marking a baptism by providing the pump, pipes and tap stand need to bring fresh water to a Nicaraguan village or marking a special wedding anniversary by ‘putting down roots’ – providing saplings to plant in Honduras which, as they grow, will act as wind breaks to hold the soil together thus preventing the deadly mud slides we have seen on our television screens. Prices in the present aid catalogue that recently came through my door range from £8 to buy a basketball so that Hutu and Tutsi children in Burundi can have the chance to unite by playing together to £60 for a herd of goats to provide a living for farmers in Bolivia. You can always club together with some friends to buy some of the more expensive items – they all make a difference. For more details go to www.presentaid.org or ring 0845 3300 500. I think that present aid is a splendid idea in its own right. But it is also relevant to the somewhat throwaway society that we live in. The growth of businesses such as ‘Ebay’, the online ‘swap shop’ used by millions of individuals to sell unwanted items, is evidence of a society in which we often buy, or are given, things that we don’t really need or want.	You know the ‘what do you want for your birthday/Christmas?’ routine that many of us go through. We are increasingly surrounding ourselves with possessions that will, in reality, never or hardly ever be used. Present aid is one way of buying for and giving to people whose very lives depend on the gift. The moral predicament that faces us in an unequal world was thrown into focus for me recently by the latest newsletter to arrive from our link mission partners, Colin and Anita Smith, who live and work in Nairobi, Kenya. Next time you go out for a meal consider the table decoration. If it is a flower it is just possible that it was grown and exported by Kenya’s flower industry. However, the precious water that has been used to grow the flower means that many farmers and pastoralists have no water for their cattle, and the World Food Programme has to provide maize to many areas affected by drought. Living, giving and shopping ethically is a complicated business! I’m not suggesting that it is possible to check the origin of the rose that is placed on the table as you sit down to dinner at the local restaurant. But ideas such as present aid are a good start, as is buying fair trade goods where possible; something that people are doing in increasing numbers. It is about everybody joining together and doing what they can, and it does make a difference, as members of the Bangladeshi village community which now has access to clean, safe water will tell you. God has given us this beautiful world to live in and Jesus came to give his life because of God’s love for every single human being; the best way to give thanks to him for all his blessings to us is to share them with those who are marginalized, left out, powerless and so often forgotten. Rob Green
	Norbury Parish Church, Hazel Grove, Stockport, Cheshire. Telephone: 0161-483 6325

A goat is not just for Christmas…

Last Christmas many people at Norbury signed the large church ‘Christmas card’ and gave a donation to Christian Aid. Thanks to the generosity of many we were able to send over £500 which funded a 'borehole tubewell' enabling a village in Bangladesh to have access to reliable clean safe water; two herds of goats to help farmers in Bolivia; six pigs to help farmers in Nicaragua; 4,000 saplings to help prevent mudslides caused by tropical storms in Honduras and two 'resettlement packs' containing maize, beans, pans, plates, an axe and a hoe to help farmers in Angola rebuild their livelihoods.

This was a wonderful achievement. However, Christmas comes but once a year and there are many other special occasions that can be marked in a similar way. Christian Aid has recently sent out a new ‘present aid’ catalogue with ‘year round’ gift ideas. So how about marking a baptism by providing the pump, pipes and tap stand need to bring fresh water to a Nicaraguan village or marking a special wedding anniversary by ‘putting down roots’ – providing saplings to plant in Honduras which, as they grow, will act as wind breaks to hold the soil together thus preventing the deadly mud slides we have seen on our television screens.

Prices in the present aid catalogue that recently came through my door range from £8 to buy a basketball so that Hutu and Tutsi children in Burundi can have the chance to unite by playing together to £60 for a herd of goats to provide a living for farmers in Bolivia. You can always club together with some friends to buy some of the more expensive items – they all make a difference. For more details go to www.presentaid.org or ring 0845 3300 500.

I think that present aid is a splendid idea in its own right. But it is also relevant to the somewhat throwaway society that we live in. The growth of businesses such as ‘Ebay’, the online ‘swap shop’ used by millions of individuals to sell unwanted items, is evidence of a society in which we often buy, or are given, things that we don’t really need or want.

You know the ‘what do you want for your birthday/Christmas?’ routine that many of us go through. We are increasingly surrounding ourselves with possessions that will, in reality, never or hardly ever be used. Present aid is one way of buying for and giving to people whose very lives depend on the gift.

The moral predicament that faces us in an unequal world was thrown into focus for me recently by the latest newsletter to arrive from our link mission partners, Colin and Anita Smith, who live and work in Nairobi, Kenya. Next time you go out for a meal consider the table decoration. If it is a flower it is just possible that it was grown and exported by Kenya’s flower industry. However, the precious water that has been used to grow the flower means that many farmers and pastoralists have no water for their cattle, and the World Food Programme has to provide maize to many areas affected by drought.

Living, giving and shopping ethically is a complicated business! I’m not suggesting that it is possible to check the origin of the rose that is placed on the table as you sit down to dinner at the local restaurant. But ideas such as present aid are a good start, as is buying fair trade goods where possible; something that people are doing in increasing numbers. It is about everybody joining together and doing what they can, and it does make a difference, as members of the Bangladeshi village community which now has access to clean, safe water will tell you. God has given us this beautiful world to live in and Jesus came to give his life because of God’s love for every single human being; the best way to give thanks to him for all his blessings to us is to share them with those who are marginalized, left out, powerless and so often forgotten.

Rob Green

A goat is not just for Christmas…

Norbury Parish Church, Hazel Grove, Stockport, Cheshire. Telephone: 0161-483 6325