Indiana—During the 2006 Christmas season, the Cicero Church Primary Sabbath school class provided 13 loaves of bread for hungry families in Tanzania, hot lunches for school children in Madagascar, ten chickens for a family in China, five pairs of flip flops for children living near volcanoes, two blankets for disaster victims, 44 hot meals for the elderly in Kyrgyzstan, care for one month for five abandoned babies in Russia, and more. How did they do this when they live in Indiana? They purchased these items from the The Original Really Useful Gift Catalog at Adventist Development & Relief Agency International (ADRA).

Those familiar with the annual catalog know that ADRA lists more than 100 projects to help our fellow human beings around the world. The projects range from 25¢ to several thousand dollars. The Primary Sabbath school class focused on projects that cost less than $10. The children were encouraged to bring some of their own money or find jobs to earn extra money. Then they chose which project they wanted to sponsor.

Eunice Gomez, who provided a hot meal for two infants in Bangladesh and a pair of flip-flops for a child who lives near a volcano, made the first donation. Gomez hung an ornament on the classroom tree. The ornament indicated what her donation was and which projects she sponsored.

It was heartwarming to see our children take an interest in others less fortunate than themselves. One generous church member designated an amount of money for the children to put toward the project of their choice. This outreach project continued through the last Sabbath of 2006. Ten separate projects totaling $91 were selected by the children.

Visit ADRA's website at www.adra.org to donate through The Original Really Useful Gift Catalog.

Allan and Mary Ann Smith, Primary Sabbath school class leaders