The following are hands-on project opportunities that have been compiled by EPM.

Fill Paper Bags to Give to the Homeless

Purchase paper sacks or gift bags at your local dollar store. Fill them with food and toiletry items such as:

• deodorant
• toothbrushes
• toothpaste
• granola bars
• sunblock in the summer; gloves and socks for winter
• other things they may not need but would probably enjoy, like gum or lotion

Include an evangelistic booklet, such as:

• Heaven booklet
• If God Is Good booklet
• Heaven tract

If you have children, you can involve them in the project by having them draw pictures or write simple notes to include in the sacks. Share your sacks with those God brings across your path.

Idea credit: Frugal Living NW

Ways to Get Your Children Involved with Orphan Care

Dawn to Dark created this list of ideas for actively involving your children in caring for orphans:

• Donate clothes, toys, and school supplies to foster children or an orphanage

• Ask for donations to an orphanage to be made in lieu of birthday presents at a party

• Raise money through a garage sale, car wash, lemonade stand, bake sale, craft faire, etc. and donate it to an orphan ministry or use it to buy Christmas presents for foster children

• Become a pen-pal to a child in an orphanage

• Participate in Show Hope’s Change for Orphans program and fill a bucket with change for orphans

• Babysit or be a mother's helper to a foster or adoptive family.

• Donate homemade hats, blankets, and other necessities to an orphanage.

• Older children may be able to visit an orphanage and serve on a short-term missions trip, either with their youth group or family. 

   

Take the 5 Minute Challenge from Open Doors

Open Doors is encouraging believers to commit  5 minutes a week to pray for each country on their World Watch List for persecution.

Each week, they will send you an email highlighting a featured country and giving you ways to pray. By the end of 2012, you will have prayed for all 50 countries on the World Watch List.

Watch the video below, then go to the Open Doors website to sign up for the challenge.

Pack Hygiene Kits for Needy Children in the Philippines

ACTION International is collecting hygiene kits for the benefit of children in crisis in the Philippines.

For each kit, package the following items in a one-gallon (10½” x 12”) Ziploc bag. (Please follow this list closely and do not add anything else.)

6 safety pins (exactly 6, to pin children’s worn clothing together)
6 plain Band-Aids (no designs; Johnson & Johnson seems to work best)
Hand Soap (1 bar; medium size)
Washcloth (1 new)
Toothpaste (6-8 oz tube; taken out of its box)
Toothbrush (1 new, removed from its box)

Send your kits to: ACTION International Ministries, Hygiene Kits for the Philippines, 5502 232nd Street SW, Mountlake Terrace, WA 98043.

Sign up for Open Door's Weekly Prayer Alerts for the Persecuted Church

Open Doors USA sends out a weekly email with ways to pray for the persecuted church. Sign up on their website to receive the emails.

Be an Advocate for Imprisoned Christians and Send Letters of Encouragement

By becoming an ‘advocate’ you are entering into the vital and important ministry of intercession and solidarity with those who suffer for their faith in Christ.

PrisonerAlert.com, a ministry of The Voice of the Martyrs, provides an opportunity for you to be an advocate for our brothers and sisters in chains. You will be encouraging them when you write to them in prison and supporting them when you write to government officials on their behalf.

The support and involvement of other Christians is evidence to these persecuted believers that they are not forgotten, since often their oppressors try to brainwash them into believing they are not loved and no one knows about them. When a prisoner learns others are protesting on their behalf or when they receive a letter, they know someone cares.

Your involvement can also result in better treatment for a prisoner. The authorities in many nations are very sensitive about their image abroad; when they realize outsiders are monitoring a prisoner’s situation, conditions may be improved.

To learn more and see the profiles of Christians you can be an advocate for, visit PrisonerAlert.com

Donate Bibles for Christians in the Philippines

Perhaps you have new or good used study Bibles for God’s people in the Philippines. Bibles are expensive there, especially gift Bibles. 

You can send them to the Philippines Bible Project, ACTION , PO Box 398 (or 5502 232nd St. SW), Mountlake Terrace, WA 98043. (“Media Mail” is the least expensive way to mail to the office.) 

The Bibles should be in excellent condition. ACTION International cannot use old or damaged Bibles (also, please, no Message Bibles).

ACTION will repack and send them in large boxes directly to the Philippines.  They can use as many Bibles as you would like to send.  

Collect and Fill Backpacks for Kids

Orphan Outreach Mission Backpack provides orphans with a backpack of school supplies along with the message that they are not alone. Individuals and groups collect new and gently used backpacks for this U.S.-based mission to give to children in schools and orphanages around the world. Recently they sent 5,000 backpacks to Haiti. Orphan Outreach currently has staff and projects in Guatemala, Honduras, India, and Russia, and also supply backpacks to partner organizations that serve children in other countries. Learn more at www.missionbackpack.org

Donate Your Gently Used Bridal and Formalwear Dresses to Adorned In Grace

Adorned In Grace is a dress shop in Fairview, Oregon selling bridal and formalwear to raise awareness and funds to provide support and safe shelter to children and teens victimized by human trafficking. All proceeds from the dresses benefit Door to Grace, an organization committed to building a safe shelter in Portland for young women rescued from slavery.

If you are interested in donating a gown (bridal, cruise, prom) and/or accessories (including petticoats and veils) to help raise awareness and rescue victims of modern-day slavery, you can ship to:

Adorned in Grace
4949 SW 76th Avenue
Portland, OR 97225

Learn more at http://adornedingrace.blogspot.com/

Send Christian Literature Overseas through Love Packages

Love Packages is a ministry aimed at putting Christian literature and Bibles into the hands of people around the world. They send these materials to ministries in many poor countries to distribute freely to people hungry for the Word of God.

You can donate new or used Bibles, tracts, reference books and commentaries, Christian books, and more.

For a complete list of needed materials, and for more information, visit www.lovepackages.org

Pray for Believers in Iran

Since the 1979 Islamic revolution, Iranians have become increasingly disillusioned with Islam. The political, economic, and spiritual situation in Iran has resulted in a deep spiritual hunger for truth. Iran may be a closed land, but the people have open hearts. Iranians today are seen as the most open Muslim people to the Gospel in the world. More have become Christians since the revolution than the previous 1,300 years put together.

Iran30 is a prayer intiative by Elam Ministries (www.elam.com) to help Christians pray for Iran. Sign up to get updates and prayer requests from Iran30 on Twitter and/or Facebook. You can also download a interactive prayer guide at https://www.elam.com/registration.aspx

Gain an Awareness for Bible Translation by Taking the Blank Bible Challenge

The Seed Company’s mission is to complete Bible translations in the heart languages of people without God’s Word. There are over 2,200 languages that need a Bible translation, representing almost 350 million people. More than just numbers, these are individual people without access to the life-giving, life-changing hope and power of God’s Word.

The Seed Company offers the Blank Bible Challenge, a 28-day interactive devotional series that will help you engage with God’s Word in an exciting and refreshing new way. Sign up to receive free daily devotional e-mails.

Deliver God-Centered Resources when You Travel Overseas

Because of the high cost of shipping overseas, Desiring God International Outreach is looking for those who are traveling internationally to help them donate and deliver books and media to friends involved in missions and church-planting. Whether you’re a business traveler or a missionary headed to the field, DG International Outreach wants to pack your bags full of Christ-exalting, hope-filled resources.

As you prepare to go overseas, you can let them know if you are willing to serve as a courier. If they have a partner near your destination in need of resources, DG International Outreach will ship them to you stateside before you leave. Your role is to pack them in your bags and deliver them upon your arrival.

Visit the Desiring God website to learn more.

32 Ways to Serve God: Ideas on how to serve God by ministering to children and the poor

ACTION International (www.actionintl.org) has put together a brochure with 32 ideas on how to minister to children and the poor, including:

- Adopt one of your church's missionaries, write to him or her monthly, and then pray daily for that outreach.

- Gather vocational and technical books to send to a school for older needy children in the Philippines.

- $.50 provides one evangelistic national language comic book written by Filipinos for street children.

- You and your family can invite missionaries to your home for a meal and ask them all about their lives and ministry.

Get more ideas for prayer, projects, giving, doing, and going when you download the PDF brochure.

Pack a backpack for World Relief's Back-2-School campaign

World Relief’s Back-2-School campaign provides school backpacks to refugee children who come to the United States from places around the world. Filling backpacks with school supplies is a practical way to share the love of Christ with these children. Simply buy a backpack and fill it with new, age appropriate school supplies (see www.back-2-school.org for a list of supplies). Include $5 to cover distribution and other refugee expenses. You may choose to also include a welcome note and a photo of you and/or your family. Then take your backpack to the nearest collection center, or ship it to a World Relief office.

For more information, go to www.back-2-school.org

Send a message of hope to North Korea

North Korea is still the most difficult place in the world to be Christian. All religious activity is seen as a revolt against North Korea’s socialist principles and the cult of Kim Jong-il and his father.

As a result of strict searches, considerable numbers of secret Christians have been discovered, arrested, tortured, and sometimes killed. Despite this, and the lack of freedom to worship, many take the risk of sharing their faith and the church is growing; there are an estimated 400,000 believers.

Pray for boldness and protection for those seeking to share the good news. Ask God to strengthen the 50–70,000 Christians detained in labor camps. Many are desperately short of food. Pray that help will reach those who need it most.

Many North Koreans possess small transistor radios and if you submit a brief message of encouragement through Open Doors, it will be translated and broadcasted into North Korea and bring hope to a fellow believer.

Click here to learn more about sending a message.

Send Bibles to Persecuted Christians through Bibles Unbound

By becoming a member of Bibles Unbound, you will be able to mail New Testaments from your own home directly to communities where your persecuted brothers and sisters are now courageously witnessing.

Sign up at www.BiblesUnbound.com to participate in one or more ministry operations. Each month you will receive five or more New Testaments in the appropriate language along with corresponding address labels, a description of the operation(s), packaging and the necessary postage to mail each Bible into the assigned restricted nation.

For each donation of only $30.00 per month you will receive a package of five Bible mailings and everything you need to participate in the program. You can select your own operation or have The Voice of the Martyrs select one for you.

Buy a Waterproof Bible and Bardin & Marsee Will Give One

Seeing the need for a more durable Bible for residents of the developing world—and those that serve them—Bardin & Marsee, creators of the new Waterproof Bible, have launched a Buy-One-Give-One (BOGO) campaign.

The new Waterproof Bible is available in the NIV and KJV translation and is 100% waterproof and dirt resistant—inside and out.  The pages, made from thin sheets of plastic, make the Waterproof Bible ultra-durable and tear-resistant, allowing it to outlast most any competitor.  The text can even be underlined with a ballpoint pen, or marked with a dry highlighter, and not smear after being submerged in water. 

For more details on the BOGO program and the Waterproof Bible, visit www.WaterproofBible.com. The first distribution partner will be The 410 Bridge, who will utilize the free Bibles in their Christmas in Kenya project.

Join the Children in Crisis Club

“The news of one baby being orphaned in Africa or a three-year-old child abandoned on the streets of Manila should bother us,” says Doug Nichols of ACTION International. “It is a little overwhelming to realize there are 143 million orphans throughout the world, as well as 160 million children on the streets.”
 
Please pray for many to join ACTION International’s Children in Crisis (CIC) Club program for needy children worldwide, and consider joining yourself!  A club member sets aside—in a jar, box, or can—50¢ daily, which equals approximately $15 monthly for ministry of the Gospel and compassionate care to children in crisis.

For more information, contact ACTION International Ministries, www.actionintl.org, PO Box 398, Mountlake Terrace, WA 98043-0398, (425) 775-4800.

Join Voice of the Martyrs’ Be-A-Voice Network

The Be-A-Voice Network is an online volunteer opportunity created by The Voice of the Martyrs. This ministry allows you to help persecuted brothers and sisters around the world through prayer, writing letters to the persecuted, and sharing with others. As a member of the network you can send free copies of Tortured for Christ, written by VOM founder Richard Wurmbrand, to Christian friends and family members.

The Be-A-Voice Network also offers other ways for you to get involved, such as distributing VOM newsletters to members of your church; showing a VOM DVD to a congregation, youth group, Sunday school class, or Bible study; inviting a VOM speaker to your church; or sponsoring a VOM related project: A Blanket and a Bible, Action Packs, Bibles Unbound.

To learn more, visit www.be-a-voice.net

Donate Your Used Wedding Gown to Turkish Christians

In Muslim Turkey, converts to Christianity are often fired from their jobs when employers learn of their newfound faith. Unemployment is high and jobs are very hard to find. Fortunately, a ministry in the US has found a way to help needy Turkish believers without making them dependent on continuing assistance. Brides in Turkey typically rent their wedding apparel, and this organization provides Turkish Christians with a stock of wedding gowns they can rent out from their homes or local shops. These are given to them free of charge. The ministry relies on donated dresses, and most are received from Christian women who treasure the opportunity to share their own used gowns. 

If you have a wedding dress you’d like to give for this cause, please make sure it’s clean and in excellent condition, and send it to the address that follows. Though not required, it will also help if you provide a $10 donation for the average cost of shipping a gown overseas. Your gift of a dress or funds is tax-deductible.  Please send to: Turkish World Outreach, 508 Fruitvale Court, Grand Junction, CO 81504.

For more information, contact Pastor Steve Hagerman, phone +1 970-434-1942, email: steve@two-fot.org  

Pack and Send Back-to-School Replanting Lives Kits for Refugee Children

World Relief is collecting Replanting Lives Kits, which are a practical way for you, your small group or your church to positively impact the lives of persecuted families from around the world. Refugees often flee their homes at a moment’s notice. Many arrive in the United States with very little.

Children are refugees as well who must adjust to a new culture, language, friends and school.  You can welcome a refugee child by putting together a Back-to-School  Replanting Lives Kit.

Learn more about putting together a kit at the World Relief website.

Fill and Send Action Packs for the Needy in Pakistan, Iraq, or Sudan

The Voice of the Martyrs is currently sending Action Packs for the needy to Pakistan, Iraq and Sudan. Once you have ordered an Action Pack from their website, they will send you a specially designed, preprinted vacuum bag you can fill with blankets, clothing, towels and other new or gently used items. Each Action Pack comes with instructions about what can be placed inside. When filled, simply return your Action Pack to The Voice of the Martyrs, to be distributed along with full-color He Lived Among Us gospel storybooks.

The Voice of the Martyrs requests a $7 donation for each Action Pack, which covers the cost of the bag, shipping to your home and shipping to Pakistan, Iraq, or Sudan. This is a great project for families, a youth group, or even an entire church.

For more information, or to order a pack, go to the VOM website.

Other Practical Projects and Ideas

50 Ways To Help Unborn Babies and Their Mothers

101 Creative Ideas to Support World Missions

Practical Ways to Help Our Persecuted Brothers and Sisters in Christ