Christmas

This year, in honor of you, our fantastic clients and friends -- Fishhook is making a financial contribution to each of our team member's charity of choice. Thanks to you, Fishhook's gifts will make a world-wide impact!

Each charity below will receive a donation from Fishhook. Comment here or Facebook which of our charities is your favorite. The charity with the most votes will receive a double donation.

Leave a comment here or on Facebook and we'll add them up and give that charity a double donation.

  • Ben's gift: Dead Wheat International Foundation
  • Evan's gift:  Central Indiana Teen Challenge
  • Janice's gift: The American Cancer Society
  • JD's gift: CMF's Tanzania "Help Build a Training Center" project
  • Jen's gift: Living Water International
  • Leah's gift: Church at the Crossing's Year-End "Children. Families. Future." offering
  • Lindsay's gift: International Justice Mission

Ben's Gift: Dead Wheat International

Dead Wheat is "a community of families committed to finding contextually appropriate solutions to existing and ongoing problems found in many third world communities."

One of my favorite stories about the impact these solutions are making is the fruition of a project to develop a "smokeless stove" that will allow ever-present cook fires to burn inside a dwelling place without the harmful effects of smoke inhalation to the residents. To quote Steve Bliss, "Most of the homes located in the rain forest regions of the world use three-rock open fire stoves to cook their food. Due to the rains, they typically do this in mostly enclosed rooms ... In this context, this smoke creates chronic health problems when breathed in on a daily basis. Also, inefficient burning wastes potential wood energy which contributes to high rates of wood consumption and deforestation." For more, you can click this link.

Evan's Gift: Central Indiana Teen Challenge

My friend lost his teenage daughter to a drug overdose just a few weeks ago. Even in his sadness, he expressed that he found peace knowing she had come to a lifesaving relationship with Jesus Christ through her stay at Central Indiana Teen Challenge. Through complex and difficult circumstances, her time in the program was cut short and some time later, so was her life...but not her relationship with a God who loves her and welcomed her to Heaven.

In honor of my friend and his daughter, and as a father of two teenage daughters and a soon-to-be teenage son, I choose to support Central Indiana Teen Challenge. CITC is a group of residential centers and outreach program dedicated in offering a faith based residential approach to drug and alcohol recovery. 

Janice's Gift: The American Cancer Society

I have lost dear friends and loved ones to cancer. It touches every one of our lives. I have seen how research is making a difference. To me, a gift to the American Cancer Society is "buying hope." Won't you join me in making a donation to spread hope this year?

JD's Gift:CMF's Tanzania "Help Build a Training Center" project -- buy a brick!

Our family has ties to Tanzania and that country is close to our hearts and prayers. A small gift goes a long way in Tanzania. Christian Missionary Fellowship and their missionaries are doing amazing things in Tanzania. For $1/brick, we can help build a training center for their church planters. These are the people spreading Christ through the region. I love that just $1 can help so much! Will you join me in buying bricks to help build a building for them to use to train and equip their workers?

Jen's gift: Living Water International

Today I will take a hot shower. Heat water for tea. Flush the toilet. Wash my hands. Pure luxuries that I take for granted on a daily basis. Meanwhile four children have died because of a water-related disease while I write this paragraph. 884 million people lack access to safe water. Living Water International tackles the huge water crisis one community at a time by drilling and rehabilitating wells, teaching hygiene and sharing God's love with the thirsty. I love how easy they make giving -- you can donate online or buy beautiful gift cards and recipients can choose specific projects or parts of the world to bless.

Leah's gift: Church at the Crossing's Year-End "Children. Families. Future." offering

As a child, I received many gifts. Unfortunately, most children – even on Indy’s suburban north side – never get the ones I received.

Who gave me these gifts? My family was active in the children's and student ministries at my home church – Church at the Crossing (on Indy's north side). And I can't thank my parents or Church at the Crossing enough. I hope and pray that more and more children can have this kind of love and support as they grow. That’s why I want to give back to the children’s ministry that gave so much to me (and is now giving so much to my own two daughters).

Church at the Crossing’s Year-end Offering – titled "Children. Families. Future." – will be used to update and expand the church’s children’s ministry facility. This means even more children and their families can be welcomed, loved and introduced to Christ for years and years to come. I can’t wait!

Lindsay's gift: International Justice Mission

Recently, my friend, Frank, shared with me that there an estimated 27 million slaves in the world today—more than any other time in history (Bales, Disposable People). Really? Slavery? In 2010? I felt niave, guilty and saddened when he shared this. I then asked him what can I do?

He directed me toward International Justice Mission, a group that investigates cases of slavery and partners with local authorities to release slaves and their families from the facilities where they are held.