|PIC1|The charity, which last year sent over 1.2 million gift-filled shoeboxes to children in the developing world as part of the UK’s largest children’s Christmas appeal, is encouraging Christians worried about the recession to remember the words of Jesus, recorded in Acts 20:35, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”

“Circumstances are worrying for many people in this country right now, but it is an awful lot worse for the vulnerable children and families we work with overseas,” says Simon Barrington, Executive Director of Samaritan’s Purse UK.

“Many have seen their conditions worsen as a result of the global recession. These are the very people that we should be showing compassion to right now. For their sake, let’s give this Christmas away.

“The average person in the UK spent a massive £395 on Christmas presents last year*. But giving even a fraction of our usual Christmas spend away for the sake of those less fortunate than ourselves can make a real difference.

"Our experience at Samaritan’s Purse is that there is real power in giving away what we have, even if we feel we don’t have much to give in the first place.”

In addition to encouraging participation in its Operation Christmas Child initiative – which will see thousands of churches as well as schools and workplaces from across the UK filling shoeboxes with gifts for children overseas between now and November 18 – Samaritan’s Purse is also urging families to think of other ways to ‘give this Christmas away’, like sponsoring a child overseas or volunteering at a nearby homeless shelter.

As part of this initiative, the charity has setup a ‘Give This Christmas Away’ Facebook group, where members of the public can post their own ideas for giving some of their Christmas time or money away to those in need. In addition, Samaritan’s Purse will be publishing a rolling ‘Top 10 Ways to Give This Christmas Away’ drawn from the ideas posted on Facebook on their website.

On the Web:

www.samaritans-purse.org.uk/givethischristmasaway

Churches wishing to take part in this year’s Operation Christmas Child should phone 0870 011 2002 or visit www.operationchristmaschild.org.uk to order their free resources, which include a guide on how local churches can use Operation Christmas Child to connect with their community in the run-up to Christmas.