We love Christmas. It's time for family, for comfort, for love. But there are a lot of things we get wrong about Christmas.

For one, we give each other so much stuff. Whether it's out of obligation or to truly show someone we care, we're still essentially material-rich people giving other material-rich people more... materials. The purpose of our holiday, though, is Christ. And Jesus made his purpose clear to us -- sacrifice. He died so that we could live. And we struggle to keep this the focus of Christmas while we're busy buying and unwrapping gifts.

Let's face it, we actually sacrifice very little at Christmas. But what's small to us can be huge to someone who lacks basic needs. For example, 800 million people in the world live without clean water. That's a pretty fundamental need.

So this year, The Network Church invites you to partner with us in making a difference. Donate money that you'd spend buying a Christmas gift--say $20-- to fund clean water projects around the world. 100% of all funds we raise go directly to the work on the ground. And when the projects are finished (in about 18 months), charity: water will show us the communities we've helped!

Between now and Christmas, we hope to raise $5000 right here on this page.

And here's some extra incentive: if you donate $20 or more, we'll give you a tin of homemade festive cookies to enjoy over the holiday season.

Here's how it works:
1. Make your donation.
2. Send an email to thenetworkchurch@gmail.com to let us know.
3. Pick up your tin of cookies after December 10. We'll send you an email when they're ready.

We regret that we can't ship any cookie tins. Tins need to be picked up in Kitchener or from a member of the Network Church.