It may feel a bit daunting picking out the perfect gift for your loved ones, but fear not, MCC has a trusty gift-giving guide to help you and your family share the joy of giving.

Through MCC's Christmas Giving catalogue, you can give gifts to help people in need around the world in the name of your friend or family member.

When you give, we share your financial gift with our partners at home and abroad who are working with people in their communities to meet basic needs.

Here are some ideas for what to get your loved ones:

For the animal lover

These rabbits belong to Sebastian Elias Solis Raymundo, an agronomist for Fundmaya, an MCC partner. He lives in the Pexla Grande village in Guatemala, one of six villages where he works with young people to encourage them to grow a variety of vegetables, medicinal plants, fruit trees, animals and flowers.MCC photo/Matthew LesterThis is a great gift for basically anyone! Goats, rabbits and cows are obviously cute, but they’re also adaptable, walking sources of meat and sometimes milk. Some MCC programs provide goats, cows or rabbits and training in raising them. Others provide loans that families can use to buy them. For just $45, you can buy one goat for a family, but also hope that the future will promise food and an income.


For the foodie

In Kolghinguesse, Burkina Faso, farmers have benefited from a completed conservation agriculture and seed saving program led by MCC agriculture partner Office of Development of Evangelical Churches.MCC photo/James Souder

If you have a friend or family member who loves to cook with local ingredients, consider giving them a gift of Quality Seeds. MCC programs offer seeds, conservation agriculture trainings and seed-saving programs to help farmers like Adama Kaboré in Burkina Faso grow more for their families every year.


For the outdoorsy type

Participants in an MCC and Canadian Foodgrains Bank-supported kids club in Wopisa, Haiti plant a breadfruit tree.MCC photo/Paul Shetler-Fast

Do you have a loved one who is passionate about nature? Give the gift of Trees for Reforestation and you’ll partner with us to support tree nurseries in Haiti. Community members and youth like Louie Vivra, Melise Michaline and Karin Florvil plant some 450,000 trees per year! These trees help restore devastated land and hold soil in place.


For the builders

Subash Thapa (in light pink jacket) is one of the two engineers facilitating a masonry training in earthquake-resistant building techniques. MCC funds masonry training for 50 participants in Lalitpur District, Nepal, through its partner Rural Institute for Community Development. MCC photo/Avash Karki

Do you know someone who likes hands-on projects?

In a disaster like an earthquake, the quality of construction and building techniques used can have a critical impact on how buildings hold up. After the 2015 in earthquake in Nepal, MCC’s response included training in building techniques to keep people as safe as possible in the event of future disasters.

This Christmas, give the gift of Building Back Better to help keep people safe in future disasters. 


For the bookworm 

Rwandan children look at books in an MCC-supported library.MCC photo/Scott Stoner-Eby

Do you have a friend who loves to read and talk about their latest book? You can share that feeling thousands of miles away through our Books for Libraries gift. 

MCC-supported libraries offer children like Gady Mugisha, Gady Isubirizigihe and Rachel Ishimwe in Kigali, Rwanda the chance to dive into new worlds.

 

For the new parent or grandparent

Samina* is fed Plumpy Nut, a high-energy nutritional supplement, at a Medair clinic in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan.Photo courtesy of Medair

If there’s a new little one in your family or a friend’s, why not give them the gift of Nutrition for Moms and Babies?

MCC is working to improve nutrition around the world by monitoring the health and growth of children, distributing food and training mothers in making high-nutrient meals to help children struggling with malnutrition. In Afghanistan, MCC is making sure children like Samina, whose real name isn’t used for security reasons, grow big and strong.


For the indecisive 

Wallay Meselue cultivates and plant crops in the Dejel watershed in Ethiopia. MCC partner, Migbare Senay Children and Family Support Organization (MSCFSO), helped to rehabilitate the watershed.MCC photo/Matthew Sawatzky

Can’t pick? No worries! By giving a Gift of Hope you can give to where it’s needed most. MCC works in more than 50 countries around the world, working alongside local communities, churches and organizations to make a difference.

Wherever you decide to give, thank you for partnering with us to bring relief, development and peace in the name of Christ.

Merry Christmas!