At World Vision, we’re big fans of Giving Tuesday. This global generosity movement started in 2012 as a day for doing good and falls each year on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. In 2025, that’s December 2. It’s a day to flex those generosity muscles and support your favorite nonprofits or charities. Think of Giving Tuesday like an extension of that moment when everyone around the Thanksgiving table shares what they’re grateful for — a day for not only counting blessings, but also passing them on to others in need.

Ready to give back as you give thanks? Read on for five reasons why Giving Tuesday’s the perfect day to do so.

Reason #1: Double your joy

Lots of organizations have donation matches on Giving Tuesday. If they do, that means when you give $5, it becomes $10 to further support a charity and have a bigger impact. Knowing that your money can support extra people with no extra effort is a great feeling. Most organizations will publicize their matches leading up to Giving Tuesday, so you can usually see on their website or social media if your gift will double.

Surrounded by our own comforts and needs, we sometimes forget to prioritize generosity toward others who have a lot less than us. To keep generosity central, my family has our own “matching gift” program: When we spend a certain amount on a home or lifestyle item, we donate the equivalent amount to a charity or nonprofit. The point isn’t to make ourselves feel good, but to remember that “… life does not consist in the abundance of [one’s] possessions,” as Jesus tells us in Luke 12:15 (ESV). It’s a tangible reminder that our money is God’s and that He can do more with what we have than we can imagine.

Reason #2: Check off Christmas shopping

It’s as inevitable as It’s a Wonderful Life reruns all December: You make your Christmas list, jotting down gift ideas for your sister, your roommate, your kids. Then you get to that one person who’s tough to shop for. You know who it is. For me, it’s my dad. He’s not big on gifts, and he still happily wears clothes from the mid-’90s (although those ARE making a comeback!). But I found a solution to this Christmas conundrum: a donation in his name to a poverty-fighting fund.

We all have that person in our life we want to find a just-right gift for. Whether it’s through a donation or a handcrafted item to treasure, empowering kids around the world to create lasting change — in Jesus’ name! — sounds like the perfect gift. (Now if only I could give that gift of lasting change to my dad’s wardrobe …)

Reason #3: Get sustainable

Sustainable lifestyles are becoming fairly common. We’ve got our reusable shopping bags, our cloth coffee filters for our fair-trade coffee, and our metal straws. For Christians, though, caring about all kinds of sustainability isn’t just ethical, it’s also spiritual. Part of our Genesis 1:28 mandate, set up by God from the beginning, is a responsibility to care for the earth and its products, and, of course, people who make those products.

That’s why holistic community development work is one of the most sustainable things to give to. “Community development” is a fancy way to talk about poverty-busting projects that leave entire regions better than they started. As Christians, we want to make sure the way we spend our money upholds the dignity of all people — how better to do this than to equip them with the tools to break out of extreme poverty? (See Reason #5 for a real story of how this works!)

Reason #4: Make gratitude your lifestyle

Giving Tuesday’s all about keeping those good Thanksgiving vibes going, recognizing how much we have to be grateful for and sharing it with others. But you know what’s better than focusing on giving back for a day or a few weeks during the holidays? Making gratitude part of our everyday life by giving a recurring gift throughout the year. An easy way to do that? Use Giving Tuesday as a day to sign up to give a monthly gift to the charity (or charities!) that you care about.

Automatic giving is a simple step that does lots of good with our dollars. For a charity, it allows them to have a clearer picture of what to expect financially so they can build more accurate budgets to maximize their work throughout the year. For me, pausing to consider my own abundance motivates me to infuse the smallest parts of life with generosity. No gift is too small when it comes with a heart of gratitude and a desire to give back, so consider if God is calling you to take that next step of faith. A recurring gift to the World Vision Fund helps create lasting change around the world by meeting critical needs both today and tomorrow!

Reason #5: Join something bigger

Let’s take a trip to Yamaranguila, Honduras. Remember when I said community development is sustainable? This region is living proof of how people can transform their circumstances with the right tools. Only a couple decades ago, deep poverty, discrimination, and despair kept people in Yamaranguila down. But today, every family has clean water piped to their home. The Lenca Institute, a local high school, promotes Indigenous cultural values, including the importance of protecting the environment. Teenagers get support for university rather than dropping out of school. Kids are healthy, and their parents’ businesses are succeeding. The mayor, a former World Vision sponsored child, is dedicated to serving others, even receiving a national award recognizing Yamaranguila’s transformation.

Community members’ ownership of their development leads to lasting change like this. It’s work that’s possible with partnerships from generous donors and child sponsors who supported people in Yamaranguila. These donors have received the rare gift of seeing an entire community go from extreme poverty to health and hope in their lifetime. Who wouldn’t want to keep that gift going?

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With the holidays drawing near, signs of the season are emerging in our neighborhood stores, living rooms, and mailboxes. If you’re a child sponsor, you’ve likely received a Christmas card to send to your sponsored child. We encourage you to take a moment and write them a special message before popping it in the mail. We’ve seen firsthand how encouraging these cards can be.

Christmas manifests in various ways around the world for the children we serve. For some, it’s a joyful celebration full of cherished traditions. For others, the season may pass quietly or bring a painful reminder that life is not all it should be. In this collection of photos, we honor each of these children and their Christmas experiences. We also honor you and your partnership with World Vision, for it is through that commitment that children around the world continue to feel the hope of Jesus this season — and beyond.

Ukrainian refugees in Moldova

Natalia placed new shoes on the feet of her 3-year-old son, Macar, during a World Vision distribution for Ukrainian refugees in Moldova in December 2022. Despite being far from home and loved ones, Natalia was determined to make Christmas a celebration for her child. “We will buy a gift for the child … We will definitely put up a Christmas tree,” she says. “At home we bought a goose, but this year [we’ll have] a little chicken.” She continues, “I hope that the war will be over very soon, but a child should still have memories of the fact that there were these little traditions, which in my family have been passed down to me since childhood.” (©2022 World Vision/photo by Eugene Combo)

Myanmar

Thirteen-year-old Zar in Myanmar was elated to receive a Christmas card from her sponsor in the United Kingdom. She said that receiving these cards make her feel very special. “There are hearts, stars, Christmas ornaments, birds, bells, and snow on this Christmas card. It is so beautiful! I like it very much.” Despite limitations from the pandemic, disasters, and conflict in various regions, World Vision staff will still deliver Christmas cards like this one to sponsored children around the world. (©2018 World Vision/photo by Khaing Min Htoo)

Malawi

Singing songs, lighting candles, and gathering with family and friends — this is how the family of Leon, a 12-year-old girl in Malawi, celebrates Christmas. After back-to-back years of devastating natural disasters, causing food shortages and cholera outbreaks, is no small miracle. Leon and her family don’t face their challenges alone. She is sponsored, and it’s a lifeline for her family and the whole community.

Leon’s family now has four goats to breed and sell thanks to the World Vision animal program in their community. Sponsorship has also helped fund agricultural training and seeds to boost food harvests in the area, as well as nutrition training to improve children’s diets and overall health. (©2023 World Vision/photo by Ben Adams)

South Sudan

In South Sudan, Christmas is a season of coming together to share God’s love and good food with family and friends. Here, 9-year-old Kobong (left), 11-year-old Maring (center), and 10-year-old Moses (right) don Santa hats in preparation for the festivities. Maring says, “As we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, may He grant us peace and love, the joy to love Him back, and for our parents to be blessed so they can send us to school next year.” (©2020 World Vision/photo by Scovia Charles)

United States

A little girl grins after selecting her Christmas present at the Al Davies Boys and Girls Club in Tacoma, Washington. The club held a toy distribution in partnership with World Vision and NBA player Isaiah Thomas on December 12, 2022. For 12 years, Isaiah Thomas has partnered with World Vision to support the Al Davies Boys and Girls Club with coat drives, backpacks, Christmas presents, and Thanksgiving distributions. (©2022 World Vision/photo by Amy Van Drunen)

Romania

A choir of children — many sponsored through World Vision, others registered for sponsorship — sing Christmas carols during evening services at a Romanian Orthodox Church. Through World Vision’s community-based model, both sponsored and unsponsored children benefit from community improvements and programs funded through sponsorship. In fact, for every child sponsored, another four will also benefit. (©2019 World Vision/photo by World Vision staff)

Brazil

Through a program called “Christmas of Hope,” World Vision and local churches invited Brazilian and Venezuelan children to write each other Christmas cards. The goal of the program was to inspire intercultural unity between two peoples who are learning to coexist as Venezuelans migrate to Brazil.

Pedro, a 10-year-old Brazilian boy, said, “When I made the card, it was an incredible feeling knowing that the child had to leave their country and come to ours. I can’t explain the feeling. At the moment it is sad, but at the same time happy to be making the card. I think he will feel special like I felt doing it.” (©2022 World Vision/photo by Tiago Orihuela)

Ethiopia

Eleven-year-old Kalkidan in Ethiopia holds the Christmas card he received last year from his sponsor in the United Kingdom. His favorite part of the card was the stickers that came inside of it. When asked how he and his family celebrate Christmas, he said, “On ‘Gena’ Christmas holiday, I wear special clothes and celebrate the day with my family.” They play musical instruments, and he likes to play “a drum that is made from animal skin.” (©2019 World Vision/photo by Meron Belay)

Cambodia

“I am very pleased that I received a Christmas card from my sponsor,” says Sinil, 11, in Cambodia. She and her friends got together to turn their cards — which doubled as festive crafts — into 3D Christmas trees. (©2023 World Vision/photo by Vanndeth Um)

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One of the beautiful things about Christmas is how differently it’s celebrated by communities around the world. The food we make, the songs we sing, the decorations we hang – all are unique to our country and culture. Our Christmas crafts are different, too.

In Armenia, one family makes Christmas ornaments from yarn and balloons. In the Philippines, families construct colorful stars called parols and hang them around their homes. In the Dominican Republic, crafters transform felt paper into stunning expressions of flores de Pascua, or poinsettias.

Learn how to make these (and more) DIY Christmas crafts from around the world, below!

Philippines: Christmas parol

Supplies

• Bamboo craft sticks, called pllieay, available on Amazon
• Scissors
• String
• Rubber bands (or extra string)
• Hot glue gun
• Regular craft glue
• Tissue paper or clear plastic sheets

Instructions

1. Prepare your sticks. For one star, you will need 10 long pllieay sticks (about 15 inches long), and five shorter sticks, about 2.5 inches long. You can make these by cutting up one of the longer sticks.
2. Lay five long sticks in the shape of a five-pronged star. The sticks will overlap in the middle, creating a pentagon.
3. Using string or rubber bands, tie each of the five tips of the star so that the sticks stay in place.
4. Using a hot glue gun, glue the five corners of the inner pentagon where the sticks overlap.
5. Repeat steps 2–4 to create a second matching star.
6. Apply a blob of hot glue to each of the five tips of the pentagon on one of the stars. Take the five smaller sticks and stand them up in the blobs of glue, so that you have five pillars coming up from the points of the pentagon.
7. Add a blob of hot glue to each of the five points of the pentagon on the second star.
8. Take the second star and slowly lower it onto the five vertical sticks adhered to the first star, so that the two stars are parallel to one another and connected by the five vertical sticks in the middle.
9. Once the glue has dried and the two stars feel securely attached to the 5 middle sticks, gently bend the tips of the two stars toward each other. The bamboo should have a little give to it. Tie the five tips of the top star to the five tips of the bottom star using string or rubber bands.
10. Using craft glue, cover your star with colorful tissue paper or clear plastic. Trim excess as needed.
11. Tie a string to one of the tips to hang up the star.

Armenia: Yarn ball ornaments

Supplies

• Cotton yarn
• Small balloons
• Liquid glue
• Water
• Glitter
• Ribbon
• Scissors
• Pin
• Disposable bowl
• Gloves (unless you don’t mind sticky fingers)
• Parchment paper

Instructions

1. Blow up a balloon to about a 5-inch round ball.
2. In a disposable bowl, add one spoonful of glue per ornament, and thin the glue slightly with water.
3. Take a bundle of yarn and dip it into the glue, soaking it all over.
4. Wrap the wet yarn all around the balloon, tucking the tip of the yarn under once you’ve reached the end.
5. While the yarn is still wet, sprinkle glitter onto parchment paper and roll the ornament in it to add sparkle.
6. Set aside to dry for a couple of hours.
7. Once dry, pop the balloon with a pin and gently pull it out between the hard yarn threads, using tweezers if needed.
8. Tie a ribbon loop to a thread of the ornament to hang it on a tree.

India: Quilled Christmas cards

Supplies

• Colorful sheets of craft paper
• Liquid glue from a bottle with a pointed tip
• Scissors
• Quilling needle (optional, but helpful)

Instructions

1. Cut various colors of paper into strips, 10 to 12 inches long and ¼ inch wide.
2. Roll the strips of paper into tight coils, until they look like miniature rolls of toilet paper.
3. Allow the coils to loosen so that you can see space between the coils of paper. They do this automatically the moment you set them down. They will not uncoil fully.
4. Apply a very small dot of glue to the end of the strip of paper and press it to the side of the coil. Do this to each coil you make.
5. Either leave the coils as circles or create different shapes by pinching the sides. Pinching one side of the coil creates a teardrop shape. Pinching two opposite sides of a coil creates a leaf or petal shape. Pinching three or four sides of the coil creates diamonds, squares, or stars.
6. Select a sheet of paper to use as a card. Fold and cut it to the size of your choosing.
7. Decorate the card by gluing the colorful coils of paper to it. Get creative with your layout. Use long strips of paper and leaf-shaped coils to make a vine (see photo), arrange petals into a poinsettia, or lay a bunch of round coils down in a circle to create a Christmas wreath.

Cambodia: Pop-up Christmas tree cards

Supplies

• Colored construction paper: green, yellow, and brown 
• Colorful cardstock paper 
• Scissors 
• Glue 
• Stencils or templates to trace for Christmas trees, stars, and tree trunks 
• Decorations of your choosing (glitter, stickers, paint, etc.)

Instructions

1. Using stencils or templates, trace six identical Christmas trees, six stars, and six tree trunks on the green, yellow, and brown construction paper. Cut out each shape.
2. On a new piece of construction paper, lay out a tree, star, and trunk to form the shape of a Christmas tree. Trace around the three pieces, leaving a quarter-inch margin all around (refer to the light-yellow paper behind the pop-up tree in the photo). Cut out the Christmas tree shape and set it aside.
3. Cut a piece of cardstock paper into a square, large enough that it will be bigger than the pop-out Christmas tree. Since this will determine the size of your card, you can make it larger than pictured if you want more room to write a note around it.
4. Carefully fold the trees, stars, trunks, cardstock paper, and Christmas tree shape from step 2 in half vertically.
5. Take a folded tree and apply glue to one side. Take a second folded tree and lay it on top of the glue, carefully lining it up with the other tree. Repeat this step with each tree until all six are glued together. Set aside to dry.
6. Repeat step 5 with the stars and trunks.
7. Take the folded Christmas tree–shaped paper from step 2 and open it up. Apply glue to the back of the pop-up stars, trees, and trunks, and affix them to the seam of this paper, leaving a quarter-inch margin all around.
8. Apply glue to the back of the Christmas tree–shaped paper and affix it to the seam of the cardstock paper.
9. Once the glue has dried, carefully open your pop-up Christmas tree card. Add decorations and a note.  

Dominican Republic: Flor de Pascua Christmas flowers

Supplies

• Two pieces of white paper to cut out petal stencils  
• 8.5 x 11-inch sheets of felt (red or white) 
• Scissors
• Hot glue gun
• Plastic pearls (red for white flowers or gold/silver/white for red flowers) 
• Sewing pins 

Instructions

1. On a sheet of paper, draw a five-petal flower to create a stencil for the base of the flower. Also draw a single, separate petal shape, the same size as the five petals on the base.
2. Cut the shapes out.
3. Pin the paper flower base to a piece of felt and cut around the stencil.
4. Pin the petal to the felt and cut around the stencil. Repeat four more times until you have five petals.
5. Cut off one tip on each of the petals, creating a straight-edge base.
6. Put a drop of hot glue on the base of the petals. Fold and pinch the base of each petal until it is fixed.
7. Place all five petals on the felt flower base, with each of the pinched ends meeting in the middle, facing up. (The top petals should be positioned in between the petals on the bottom flower, so the points are evenly distributed.) Affix them to the base with hot glue.
8. Apply a drop of glue at the center where the petals meet, and stick a few pearls to the glue.

Lesotho: Paving the way for Jesus

As Christmas approaches, Christian families in rural areas of Lesotho clean and decorate their homes in honor of their Savior’s birth. Twelve-year-old Lieakae and her grandmother decorate mud outside the entrance of their house. It will dry into a beautiful new path to welcome Jesus into their hearts and home on Christmas day.

Lieakae’s grandmother uses soil, cow dung, and water to create this pathway. For a fun alternative, try using air-dry modeling clay to create decorative tiles or Christmas ornaments.

Supplies

• Air-dry modeling clay
• Decorating tools (we recommend toothpicks and plastic silverware if you don’t have pottery tools)
• Optional: cookie cutters, ribbon

Instructions

1. Roll out a ball of clay on wax paper until it is about a half-inch thick.
2. Cut off the edges to make a 6-by-6-inch square tile or could use cookie cutters to create Christmas ornaments. If you’re making ornaments, remember to poke a hole at the top for a ribbon.
3. Using the decorating tools of your choice, apply your design.
4. Set your creation in a safe place to dry for about 24 hours.
5. If you made an ornament, thread your ribbon through the hole at the top and tie a loop so you can hang it.

World Vision staff members Jim Wungramyao Kasom in India, Gayane Galstyan in Armenia, Claudia Martinez Perez in the Dominican Republic, Chanthany Chea in Cambodia, ‘Makopano Semakale in Lesotho, and Lanelyn Carillo in the Philippines contributed to this article.

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When our Land Cruiser rolled to a stop in a village in Turkana, northern Kenya — a hotspot of the global hunger crisis — I braced myself to encounter desperation and heartbreak.

I didn’t expect to find extravagant generosity and faith.

The looming crisis

On the journey to East Africa, my head was full of facts about this crisis. Alarmingly, 50 million people worldwide are facing starvation if nothing is done. Hunger was escalating even before the war in Ukraine due to extreme and unpredictable weather patterns, protracted conflict and violence, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Then, by limiting access to critical wheat exports from the region, the war inflated food costs even further — at a time when families were already suffering.

This was true in Turkana, where the worst drought in four decades has dried up grazing lands and caused the widespread death of livestock. Families who didn’t have safety nets to begin with now lack milk or meat from their animals and face food prices beyond what they can pay. Pushed to the limit, they subsist on food rations from World Vision and wild fruit that has the consistency of sawdust.

World Vision’s response

As I arrived for a food distribution, I thanked God that World Vision was there to deliver life-saving food for Turkana families. In the prayer time before the distribution began, our staff and community members thanked God too, and expressed gratitude for you, our donors.

With your help, we strive wherever we work to serve the most vulnerable. This particular food distribution reached 150 families who’d been identified for their critical need, based in part on whether they still had animals to sustain them. Among them was a mom named Ekidor, who came with three of her six children. She and her husband sell charcoal and handmade reed baskets for a living, earning enough so that some of their kids can go to school.

Ekidor collected her ration of vegetable oil, sorghum, and beans — only enough to last her family a few weeks — and I walked home with her. Waiting at her gate was a group of neighbors who were not eligible for the distribution — yet they were still hungry. Without hesitation, Ekidor took a cup and began scooping out portions of her food for them. Her generosity left me speechless.

“We’ve been taught this at church,” Ekidor later told me. “These are people with no place else to go.”

Radical generosity

I quickly learned that the Turkana people have a strong sense of community — so strong that sharing with others is common, even in a time of dire need.

Imagine if we expanded our vision of community to encompass all God’s children around the globe. How beautiful it would be if we embraced the Turkana spirit of generosity — not just at Christmas but all year round!

I was also struck by the vital role the church plays in Ekidor’s community. “The church is like our second home,” she explained. “We get spiritual nourishment. Without it, life would be hard.”

This touched my heart even as it challenged me. Church can so easily become a weekly task rather than a second home. And how much more can I, like Ekidor, truly depend on God as my “daily bread”?

In Kenya, I was troubled to see hungry children and parched animal carcasses. But I was also blessed to see vibrant faith and amazing generosity, unmistakable signs of God’s presence in the midst of suffering — beauty amid pain.

Edgar Sandoval Sr. is president and CEO of World Vision U.S. Follow him on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter at @EdgarSandovalSr.

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During the Christmas season, joy fills our songs and our celebrations. For God’s people around the world, the source of this joy is our Savior’s incarnation — His love-filled entrance into the middle of the human story that so deeply needed a new vision of life.

We can say with Nehemiah that “the joy of the Lord is [our] strength” (Nehemiah 8:10, NIV). This season of incarnation is a chance for God’s people to display the depth of our joy to the broken world. But the joy that Jesus’ birth at Christmas heralded doesn’t end with individual or personal happiness — after all, His first recorded quotation of Scripture, in Luke 4:17–19 (NIV), is about “good news,” “sight,” and “liberty” to people who are poor, captive, blind, and oppressed. It’s an early glimpse of Jesus’ mission to shine the light of God’s kingdom into the darkest places of the world and human hearts. And it’s a foreshadowing of His ultimate call on all His followers to go and do the same for people in need.

Exalting the humble

The goodness of God’s kingdom is for people who are most oppressed, whose lives seem furthest from anything resembling joy. In World Vision’s work, we get to witness the new life that God’s Spirit brings into spiritual poverty —and the joy when physical poverty is overcome. We see restoration of broken relationships with God and others — and progress from despair to hope as a family takes hold of their future. We witness a deepened trust in God’s truth — and people’s new understanding of their capacity to tackle poverty as image-bearers of God.

Remember who God exalts in the words of Mary’s famous song? “He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty” (Luke 1:52–53, NIV). The people our culture sees as most marginalized, most forgettable, are the ones God came for in Jesus.

This season, reflect on these stories that show the joy of vulnerable people living into their God-given potential. We pray that they also bring you joy as you rejoice in what God is doing around the world.

Strong families display God’s goodness

The close relationship that Meshack has with his wife, Abigael, and son, Rashford, is rare in most rural communities in Kenya, where culture dissuades men from expressing emotions. Though men are expected to provide physically for their families, they’re not typically responsible for raising children or cultivating a loving relationship with their wives. But World Vision’s Men Care training, a global fatherhood campaign, seeks to enhance men’s involvement in their families as equitable, responsive, and nonviolent fathers and spouses who promote gender equality and seek to improve all children’s well-being.

Abigael persuaded Meshack to join a local Men Care group, where he met with others to discuss and learn about childcare, maternal and reproductive health matters, good parenting skills, and the significance of strong marriages for the well-being of children and families. Meshack has learned how “[c]hildren are a heritage from the Lord, offspring a reward from him” (Psalm 127:3, NIV). Now, Meshack and Abigael pray together about challenging situations or decisions that affect their family, and their joy-filled unity points their community to God’s transformative power.

Reflect: How might prayer bring you closer to a loved one? Who could you pray with?

A generous heart molded by service

In the rural Honduran community where Eber lives, thousands of families used to have no access to clean water. But Eber had abundant clean water on his property in the hills. When he witnessed firsthand the muddy pools that children were collecting water from, his compassion prompted him to undertake a seemingly impossible project. Twelve years spent caring for a severely disabled daughter — whom he’d seen as a gift from God — had softened his heart toward children in need. He was determined to make sure families in the valley below had clean water.

Eber and the community dug trenches, laid pipes, advocated with the government for funding, and prayed for over a year until they finally saw the clean water flowing down from Eber’s land into homes. “God has been with us at all times, in every step we have taken,” affirms one community member who helped with the project, which has blessed thousands with clean water. Eber trusted God with his resources, believing that “You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God” (2 Corinthians 9:11, NIV).

Reflect: How could you be sacrificially generous with a resource you have that would bless others around you?

Education opens new doors of hope

In India, the name of the informal settlement Anand Parbat means “joyous mountain,” but it’s an ironic name for a place of deep struggle and poverty. When their impoverished neighborhood was demolished as part of a government promise to build better housing, thousands of families were forced into worse temporary conditions with no end in sight. Opportunities for earning incomes here are limited to begging and sorting garbage on the streets.

But because donors and partners support World Vision educational centers, three teenage girls have become the first ever from this struggling community to take India’s national class 10 exam and pursue higher education. Education and knowledge, as the Bible explains, are ways God’s goodness reaches many people: “Know also that wisdom is like honey for you: If you find it, there is a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off” (Proverbs 24:14, NIV). For Poonam, Tulsi, and Pooja, their difficult background didn’t define their dreams. Their achievement has become an example to other girls from their community who faced a future of extreme poverty — but who now see the possibility of a future hope.

Reflect: How can you grow in a skill or interest God has given you? How can you steward that for the benefit of others?

Our call this Christmas

May the joy of the Lord be your strength this Christmas as you consider the incomparably good news of Jesus’ arrival into our stories and the stories of people around the world. Let’s celebrate our Savior’s birth as “good news that will cause great joy for all the people” — including the most vulnerable (Luke 2:10, NIV).

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In 2021, the world continued to grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic along with wars and political unrest. Refugees and displaced people fled violence and persecution. Natural disasters left destruction in their wake. The world struggled with sorrow. But we have a loving God who walks with us through the valleys. He gives us many reasons for joy and celebration. World Vision’s communicators from around the world captured the sorrow, the heartache, the joy, the celebration, and the hope in this extraordinary year.

In Kenya’s drought-stricken Turkana region, women and children pull rolling barrels, which are easier to transport than jerrycans filled with water. In this community, people wake as early as 4 a.m. to beat long lines at the water hole, which is fast drying up. However, since this picture was taken, World Vision constructed a water tank in the area that harvests underground water. This has increased access to clean water for many families. (©2021 World Vision/photo by Martin Muluka)

Each year, thousands of people participate in World Vision’s Global 6K for Water, where participants walk, run, or roll to raise funds for clean water around the world. In 2020, COVID-19 prevented large gatherings, but in 2021, people ran together in smaller groups like this event in Palatine, Illinois, where more than 100 people gathered for the event. (©2021 Genesis Photo Agency/photo by Gary Gnidovic)

World Vision programs strive to include people living with disabilities like 12-year-old Beatrice. She not only received a wheelchair from World Vision, but a clean water source that’s wheelchair accessible. “I’m grateful to World Vision for the wheelchair that has made my movement easier, and for the water. Life is beautiful,” Beatrice says. (©2021 World Vision/photo by Derrick Kyatuka)

Gifts given through the World Vision Gift Catalog can help a family rise out of poverty. Frederick from the Philippines believes that the gift of a boat, motor, and a net will double his daily income. (©2021 World Vision/photo by Florence Joy Maluyo, Jhoy Maung)

Laksmi was sexually trafficked at the age of 15. She says, “I’m stuck in the red-light area and can’t change that. But I want my children to move out of here and have their own life.” World Vision established an anti-trafficking network with the Indian police, which is helping Laksmi’s family to realize her dream. This network helps vulnerable children like Laksmi’s daughter, Binsa, enroll in school. It also set up Child-Friendly Learning and Recreation Centers for vulnerable children. (©2021 World Vision/photo by Jim Kasom)

Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta (in khaki at the center) receives blessings from the elders who have vowed to use their influence to end female genital mutilation. The president urged the community to embrace beneficial cultural practices and do away with harmful ones that prevent women from being active participants in Kenya’s development. (©2021 World Vision/photo by Sarah Ooko)

A 7.2 earthquake struck Haiti in August and brought a boulder crashing down on the home of Jasmine and her 4-year-old daughter, Nelly. “My mother held unto me and didn’t let go,” says Nelly. (©2021 World Vision/photo by Guy Vital-Herne)

Pioneering midwife Connie Apio, of the Opetta Health Centre III in Uganda, clearly brings joy to the children she spins on a merry-go-round. Sometimes healthcare means attending to emotional needs as well as the physical. World Vision supports the clinic with a water system and latrines. (©2021 World Vision/photo by Fred Ouma)

COVID-19 left India reeling earlier this year. World Vision’s office in India strengthened rural health systems by providing medical supplies and oxygen concentrators as well as offering psychosocial support to families and children. (©2021 World Vision/photo by Luke Aslaksan)

In Syria’s northwest region, a child receives vital medical care through World Vision’s partner hospital. There they specialize in treating children with critical cases between birth and age 13. (©2021 photo courtesy of Hand in Hand for Aid)

Hurricane Ida left thousands in the Gulf Coast area without power and with damaged homes. World Vision partnered with local churches like Full Assurance Ministry Churches of God in Christ in Amit, Louisiana, to distribute relief supplies such as bottled water, shelf-stable food, hygiene supplies, diapers, tarps, and sanitizing supplies. (©2021 World Vision/photo by Laura Reinhardt)

A World Vision relief convoy drives through the northern Ethiopian countryside. World Vision is committed to stay and deliver life-saving aid, including food security, child protection, shelter, and helping people access clean water, sanitation, and hygiene programs and supplies, while also prioritizing staff safety during unrest. (©2021 World Vision/photo by Fitalew Bahiru)

Tears run down Fatema’s face as she sits in the rubble of a fire that raced through the Rohinya refugee camps in Bangladesh. Fatema cries, “We are always being haunted by unbearable sufferings. Woes have become inevitable part of our lives.” World Vision provided hot meals the next day and repaired water systems right away. (©2021 World Vision/photo by Xavier Sku)

Families displaced by violence in the Central African Republic get much-needed USAID food supplies at a World Vision distribution. (©2021 World Vision/photo by Tchaya Zogoto)

A reassuring word from a World Vision staff member before a boy chooses his sponsor at a Chosen event in Ecuador. (©2021 World Vision/photo by IDR)

In 2019, Balamanikandan, now 9, ran to be the first person in line to receive a World Vision Gift Catalog goat. He named the goat, Thulasi, which means basil. Thanks to the gift of goats, Balamanikandan can attend his fourth-grade classes in his Indian community, without worrying about paying his education expenses. He says, “Now Thulasi has grown big, but still she likes to be with me.” (©2021 World Vision/photo by Luke Aslaksan)

Five-year-old Martha loves to help her mother, Malcon-Rosa, especially with planting flowers. Malcon-Rosa is a long-term volunteer for her community, which is full of sponsored children. She says, “For love of children I started to get involved with World Vision Honduras.” (©2021 World Vision/photo by Andre Guardiola)

When my mother started teaching, I started performing better and my friends began approaching me for assistance so that they should catch up on the lessons they are struggling with. They call me teacher,” says 9-year-old Phillip who aspires to be just that. Phillip teaches his friends behind his Malawi house, near a kraal in which his family keeps goats and a big mango tree. (©2021 World Vision/photo by Collins Nankhuni)

Maholy, a 9-year-old sponsored girl in Ecuador, is already a talented artist. She says, “I liked doing this drawing, because while I was doing it, I imagined what the place was like and the people who were there when the child was born, and what was special about that night with the very big star lighting the manger. If I had to give Jesus a gift it would be a guitar to sing the most beautiful songs.” (©2021 World Vision/artwork by Maholy, 9-year-old sponsored girl)

Balancing her way across a rice field with her friends, sponsored girl Lilima has lots of reasons to smile. Her father graduated from a World Vision training program in Bangladesh and is now a successful farmer. (©2021 World Vision/photo by Golam Habib)

On the tough road to recovery, a former child soldier walks his daughter to school in South Sudan. When he was abducted, he says, “All my dreams got brushed off, and my life went dark, stained with the blood and tears of innocent people. No child deserves this.” World Vision assigned a social worker to him and provided him with a sewing machine when he graduated from tailoring class. (©2021 World Vision/photo by Scovia Faida Charles)

With power provided by solar panel arrays, Oscar teaches computer classes to students in rural Zambia, as part of a Post-COVID-19 Early Education Recovery Project. (©2021 World Vision/photo by Tigana Chileshe)

Ayasha dreams of finishing her education in Iraq and becoming a teacher. Her family has clean water to drink and to cook with thanks to P&G water purifying packets that World Vision has taught the family to use. (©2021 World Vision/photo by Shayan Nuradeen)

Sabrin Adam, in red, plays with a friend to distract herself from constant hunger. The drought in her area in Somalia makes it hard for her to stay focused on school. (©2021 World Vision/photo by Gwayi Patrick)

Xiao, who has a disability, learns to use a handrail that leads to the latrine, one of the benefits of many years of sponsorship in his Chinese community. (©2021 World Vision/photo by World Vision staff)

A Go Baby Go training in Ecuador helps parents develop skills to raise healthy children who will live their lives to the full. (©2021 World Vision/photo by Andrea Proaño)

Lillian, a South Sudanese refugee, plays with her healthy child. Agricultural training from World Vision helps her make the most of the farmland she rents from the host community in Uganda. (©2021 World Vision/photo by Aggrey Nyondwa)

Suraiya, 19, struggled with menstruation sanitation when she first joined a child forum in Bangladesh. Now World Vision has helped to construct healthy toilets, a place to bathe, and disposal sites, a blessing for girls who live in the area. (©2021 World Vision/photo by Lipy Mary Rodrigues)

World Vision staff member Yuot Bol Yai leads a proud vocational education graduating class as they march down the road in South Sudan. (©2021 World Vision/photo by Scovia Faida Charles)

Sponsored child Evelyn is a dynamo in her Honduran community. The 14-year-old maintains a close relationship with her American sponsor, who is her own age. That sponsor has helped Evelyn become a courageous advocate for education for adolescent girls. Evelyn dreams of being an agronomist. (©2021 World Vision/photo by Rafael Zalvidar)

Hana woke up at 5 a.m. to go with her mother to a World Vision/World Food Programme distribution center for refugees and displaced people in Erbil, Iraq. (©2021 World Vision/photo by Shayan Nuradeen)

World Vision staff in Bangladesh gather for their annual Day of Prayer. On October 1 each year, World Vision staff all over the world dedicate the entire day to prayer — seeking God’s guidance for the coming year. (©2021 World Vision/photo by Fariha Jahan)

Bereket, in a blue jean jacket, has ample reason to dance with her friends in front of the new school the community built with World Vision’s assistance. This school in Ethiopia, built with running water and latrines, will reduce class size and congestion. (©2021 World Vision/photo by Tamiru Chewaka)

Children release balloons into the air to celebrate the opening of the seventh and eighth Child-Friendly Learning and Play Spaces. These provide a safe place to learn and play for children living in the areas ravaged by the 7.2 earthquake that struck Haiti on August 14, 2021. (©2021 World Vision/photo by Rode Chery)

Now that Neeraj has become an Indian politician, he puts into practice what he learned as a sponsored child. “What I’ve learnt from World Vision, I’m making it reach the poorest of poor,” he says. “It has always been my desire and efforts to be of help to the person who really needs me.” Neeraj goes a step further — he now sponsors a child through World Vision in India. (©2021 World Vision/photo by Manjeri Mridula Narayan)

Severe drought in Kenya kills not only livestock — who many rely on for survival in this semi-arid area — but also wildlife, like this giraffe. (©2021 World Vision/photo by Martin Muluka)

Farmers learn how to plant and trim trees in a Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration training program in Ghana. Elizabeth says, “Tomorrow my children will come and reap the benefits of the trees that I have planted.” (©2021 World Vision/photo by Abena Agyei-Boateng)

Five-year-old Denis never leaves his mother’s side during harvest time. He knows a good harvest means plentiful food and extra money for clothing and treats. Denis’ mother, Joyce, is one of the smallholder farmers in Uganda supported by the World Food Programme and World Vision. (©2021 World Vision/photo by Aggrey Nyondwa)

A Pond Sand Filter installed by World Vision provides clean water for Shika and Rima in Bangladesh. (©2021 World Vision/photo by Suborno Chisim)

Hira and other members of adolescent girls’ club participate in a life-skills training to increase their ability to think critically. Hira says, “We enjoy games and sessions where we learn about foods, physical growth, hygiene, and gender discrimination.” (©2021 World Vision/photo by Himaloy Joseph Mree)

Energetic 3-year-old Schamaelle is never far from her mother — checking on the food she’s cooking and bringing needed utensils. She even tries to help prune in the garden but more often ends up trampling everything not taller than she is. USAID and World Vision partnered on an emergency food security program, which helps Haitian families buy nutritious food. (©2021 World Vision/photo by Guy Vital-Herne)

Alexandra encourages other teens in Honduras to delay marriage and childbirth until they have a good education and are adults. “Studying defines my future,” says Alexandra. “I am young, and I have my goals. What I want the most is to graduate from college with a nutrition degree, have my job, manage to buy my house, and eventually know when the time will be right to start a family.” Alexandra took part in World Vision’s youth network and now, as part of her senior project, shares the knowledge she learned in that program. (©2021 World Vision/photo by Rafael Zalvidar)

Even during the COVID-19 pandemic, first-time mother Mary felt empowered to make the healthy choices for a the birth of her thriving baby boy, Festus. The Kenyan mother received regular visits from community health volunteers organized by World Vision, with support from USAID. (©2021 World Vision/photo by Susan Otieno)

In South Sudan, an excited Abraham (wearing orange pants) gets to play with his friends again. Another Abraham helped save his life. World Vision’s Boma Health Promoter, Abraham Willam’s visits ensured little Abraham got the support he needed to recover from the measles. (©2021 World Vision/photo by Jemima Tumalu)

A children’s club in Senegal meets every Wednesday where they practice hygienic handwashing with soap, as part of a lesson on COVID-19 prevention. (©2021 World Vision/photo by Alexander Amadou Gassama)

Mustafa, a refugee living in Uganda, loves the goats his family received through the Gift Catalog. His mother, Edina, recalls her excitement when the goats arrived. “We had lost everything in South Sudan. I knew these goats would help us rebuild for the future.” (©2021 World Vision/photo by Aggrey Nyondwa)

The Phu family of Myanmar offers a prayer of thanksgiving at each meal. They are grateful for their transformed lives brought through World Vision’s agricultural training and saving programs. “We pray for World Vision and donors every time we have our meal. … Our family will always remember them in our prayer” (©2021 World Vision/photo by Saw Moo Kale)

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The post Favorite photos of 2021 appeared first on World Vision.

Actor, author, and World Vision supporter Kristoffer Polaha is bringing his trademark authenticity to new causes that connect people near and far. This year, he designed a handcrafted gift for the World Vision Gift Catalog, available with a donation to the World Vision Fund that empowers kids and families to rise out of poverty.

Kristoffer’s also taken to social media in new ways, where he’s created a vibrant community online. As he wrestled through his — and society’s — relationship with social media, he realized his engagement with the various platforms needed to come from a more personal place. Despite the pressure of being a celebrity figure who’s expected to amass followers, Kristoffer is choosing honest connection with people.

He explains, “The pandemic catalyzed in me this need to reach out. It was like a lightning rod. I was sitting there alone with social media, and I was trying to find out what my relationship is with it. The fear of dying put in me this desire to reach out and talk to people, which ultimately turned into this community: I call it the Polaha Chautauqua. My son and I came up with a little theme song, so it starts with this random Woody Guthrie–style song. I invite people to come onto the show. It’s an hour long every Sunday at 4 p.m. on Instagram Live.

“And people just talk. They tell their stories. All are welcome. It’s really about what it means to be alive, particularly in the face of death, and what we do with the time we’re given. Often we’ll evoke the Christian narrative because it’s a really powerful place to start, morally, but then we move away, and we just talk about life. It’s a cool place to gather and celebrate the fact that we have breath in our lungs.”

We recently sat down with Kristoffer to chat more about the community he’s creating through his family, his work, and his partnership with World Vision.

What are you looking forward to this holiday season, maybe something that you missed out on last year?

Last year I missed seeing my parents for Christmas. So this year I’m very excited to spend the holidays with them. They live in Reno, Nevada, which isn’t that far away from Los Angeles, but with COVID-19 it was so hard. No one was traveling, so it’s been a long time since I’ve gotten to celebrate the holidays with my parents. Last year was a strange Christmas. I think people are going to be very excited to see the people they didn’t get to see and do the things they didn’t get to last year. It will be nice to hopefully get back to normal.

Speaking of last year, how did you spend your time as a family during the pandemic?

We tried to figure out new ways to entertain ourselves, and we discovered something about our family: We are not a board game family. My wife was like, “Why don’t we build a puzzle?” And then all of a sudden there was all five of us around a table, each one had a corner, and we just kept building puzzles. We are a puzzle family!

We also did film school with my kids. They’re at an age where I can show them films that they couldn’t have watched when they were littler. They would finish their school and then every night we would break down a film from the ’70s or such. It was legitimately a film school to educate them on the history of cinema.

Back to Christmas: What’s your favorite family holiday tradition?

Here’s the story of our favorite holiday tradition. It started with my wife’s great-grandfather, this guy named Tricky, in Florida. I don’t know if you know this, but if you see Santa Claus deliver presents, then he makes this pact: Because you know he’s real, he’ll always hand-deliver gifts to you.

So, Tricky happened to see Santa Claus, and Tricky made the deal with Santa Claus that he’d get the presents forevermore. Tricky did this with his kids and then Julianne, my wife’s mom, did it. Santa Claus comes to the house on Christmas Eve. He shows up, hands out a couple gifts, and bails. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen Santa Claus. He’s very shy. He doesn’t talk. He’s like a little elf — he just scurries up, drops off some gifts, does a little wave, maybe he’ll take a picture, and then he’s gone. It’s kind of amazing. Happens every year.

How does your faith influence how you approach the Christmas season?

My faith completely dictates how we appreciate the Christmas season. My family is Christian, so that means we’re celebrating baby Jesus’ birth on Christmas. For us, it’s less about the candy canes and all that stuff, and it’s more about going to church. Christ is the center of the holiday for us.

What do you love most about the Christmas season and why?

One thing is the spirit of Christmas where everyone feels happier, more joyful. They’re kinder to one another. I like how people are singing songs and are just a little merrier.

I love the idea that 2,000 years ago this baby was born in the desert in the dead of night, and in that moment, technically and literally, the whole world changed, and once a year we’re reminded to go back to that mentality. I love that we get this annual reset of mind and focus.

To choose joy is to allow yourself to be fully impacted by the Christian narrative. If you can truly unpack how profound that narrative is, then you’re left with no other choice but to choose kindness, goodness, joy, love, peace, and faithfulness.

I love Christmas so much because it’s the season when the days are darkest and it’s cold. There’s no light but then, all of a sudden, we’re reminding ourselves that there’s a light beyond all of that — that’s joy.

How do you stay grounded on what matters most during the busyness of the holiday season?

Christmastime becomes so busy and manic. Everybody is worried about the gifts they’re going to buy. If you can stay true to what the reality of the season is — if you can remember that it’s about Jesus, this baby who was born and the life that he lived, which is truly about kingdom living, bringing heaven on earth, loving one another, and being present with one another — then you stay pretty grounded.

When you’re frustrated because the teller’s got five people in front of you, if you can just take a deep breath and try to love people like Christ loves people and see them through God’s eyes, it’s a good test if you can do that for about two weeks in December. And then next year maybe it’s three weeks. And then the year after that maybe it’s a whole month. And then before you know it, maybe you can be doing that every day of the year, which would be amazing.

What first made you interested in working with World Vision?

I was invited to join World Vision, and I had already heard about it from Meghan Markle. I know that she had gone to Africa, and she had mentioned that she’d worked with World Vision. I thought it seemed like a cool organization. So when I got this call, I hopped online, and I saw everything that they’re doing on a global level. It’s truly mind-blowing.

I was honored and totally overwhelmed that they asked if I would contribute to promoting their organization. I’m supposed to go to Kenya, or on a couple of trips, but COVID-19 hit right as that happened. I’m still waiting to see the work they’re doing in person.

You started learning about the Global 6K for Water that we do, right? I heard you created your own team.

Yes! World Vision has an annual 6K, and we’ve done it twice now. The first year it was my wife and our three kids, and we had a little team. It was humbling — we did okay. This year, though, I went online to the Polaha Chautauqua, an amazing group of people. (If you’re a part of it, so grateful to have you a part of this community.) We raised over $10,000 in two weeks.

Six kilometers is the average distance many young girls and women in the developing world have to walk for water. In America, we take clean water for granted. You turn the tap on, and you get your water — but they don’t have that. It prohibits them from getting an education, and it’s also dangerous because they’re getting sick from the water. If you can equip people with clean water, the entire economy and the landscape of these countries will change. It’s an important thing to be a part of.

Why should people get involved with World Vision this year?

It’s one of the easiest ways possible to give back and to do good in the world. If you go through their Gift Catalog that comes out every year, you can make a donation and get something cool like these bracelets that I helped design. And that donation helps fund World Vision’s programs. It’s a simple way to put your dollars and your time and your energy into something really awesome that’s changing the world for good.

What made you want to help design a handcrafted gift this year?

With COVID-19 my wife and I were at home, and we had all this time, and the team at World Vision was so awesome to work with. They were like, “What do you want to do?” And I said, “Well, I see you have a lot of stuff for women, but there’s not a lot of stuff for guys in the catalog. And maybe it would be cool to have something that wives can buy their husbands.” My wife and I started talking, and our initial idea was a sweater, but sourcing the wool got hard because of COVID-19.

But my wife was like, “Why don’t we do bracelets, something that men and women can wear and then, if you have them, they can be for your kids?” It was a really cool creative process to sit down with my wife and then the World Vision team and spitball all these ideas. So we got these bracelets, which we’re really proud of, and I think they’re cool. And to know that there are artisans in India actually making the bracelets is really cool. It’s a whole process that’s really exciting to be a part of.

Why does your handcrafted gift make a good gift this holiday season, especially coming out of the pandemic?

Especially coming out of the pandemic, these bracelets would be an awesome gift because, first of all, there’s three in one. You buy a little bundle. So, you can keep them all for yourself, or you can give them away to your friends or family. Men or women can wear them. We designed them so that children can wear them. You get three of them which can be like father, sons, and friends. I also like the idea that they could represent the Trinity. I love this idea of three, and the colors are cool.

And then, when you give this gift, you’re supporting people around the world to rise out of poverty into sustainability. Since COVID-19 hit the whole world, the fact that you can have an impact globally by making a donation here in the States is pretty awesome.

Donations from your handcrafted gift go to the World Vision Fund, helping empower people to rise out of poverty for good. What do you hope people think about when they wear these bracelets?

I like the idea that you can choose joy. You can choose love. You can choose faith — this concept of kingdom living. I want you to look down at your wrist and see a reminder of how to behave, to keep yourself pure or to go through the world trying to bring the kingdom here on earth. It’s super cool to know that you’ve gotten something that almost has this spiritual attachment to it. That’s what I’m hoping for when people wear these bracelets: that it will be a little reminder.

When you’re walking through the mall, and you’ve got some dope bling on your wrist, it’s hard not to be joyful because you look good, and you feel good. And when you look good and you feel good, you act good.

Why should people give these bracelets to somebody else?

There’s something fun about being able to share your gift when it’s not something so precious that you don’t want to give it away. These are almost intended to be worn to give away. You’re getting three bracelets in one package. You can get a bunch and just keep handing them out. You can have these around your wrist, and if you meet somebody, it’s so simple to take one off, hand it to somebody, and share this love.

I’ve got a great story about this. Tim Tebow is someone my son looks up to, and we actually had a chance to meet him very randomly. Tim Tebow had a couple bracelets on his wrist, and he just opened one up and gave it to my kid. Caleb cherished that thing.

Can you tell us about something cool that’s going on in your career? What else have you been working on that’s coming out around the holidays?

If you don’t know this, I have ventured into writing. My second book, called Where the Sun Rises, will hit bookshelves on March 29. Be sure to pick up a copy of that! And then, if you haven’t yet, buy Moments Like This — it’s already out. And then this summer, get ready: June 2022, Jurassic World Dominion. It’s going to be a big movie; you’re going to love it. So, check that out!

This interview has been edited and condensed for length. Elisabeth Rickard of World Vision’s U.S. office contributed to this story. 

Get Kristoffer’s “Further Together” waxed string bracelets with a gift of $30 or more to the World Vision Fund.

The post Q&A with Kristoffer Polaha, author and actor appeared first on World Vision.