Our Alternative Gifts catalogue, launched in 2005, was a phenomenal success! For the first time, you had the opportunity to buy a gift for a friend that would directly benefit those in most need in the Lands of the Bible.

From school dinners to special tools, health care to business loans, we gave you the choice and you responded with fantastic generosity!

Here are just some of the ways that your gifts have made a real difference to the vulnerable and disadvantaged in the Middle East:

The Helen Keller Centre and Rawdat El-Zuhur School in Jerusalem each received £5,000 towards school meals for their students.

At the Schneller School in the Bekaa Valley, students like the one pictured here received 70 new sets of tools (worth £5,700) to help them in their vocational training.

A total gift of £3,230 enabled the Christian Medical Fellowship to provide two health clinics each month for rural villages in Egypt for one year.

650 new school bags (worth £7,800) were provided for children in some of the poorest villages of Upper Egypt, through our Project Partner DUET.

The same project also received £9,000 for loans to small businesses in response to the bird flu crisis. The villager from Beni Khalil pictured here was able to buy a small fabrics business with a small business loan.

Return to this years’ selection of Alternative Gifts and choose from five ways that you can help make a difference to those living in the lands of the Bible today!