With so many people focused on Black Friday deals, some people are asking what the season of giving is really all about.
In Garland, members of a blue-collar church think they have a better idea than shopping.
They suggest we all give different.
At least two Garland couples, the Fyffes and the Harpers, said they have decided to give different. They buy T-shirts and tote bags at their church, Spring Creek in Garland, with the profits going to an impoverished village in Africa.
"It's a big part of what we do, to not be a part of just the consumerism of things, and believing that things are going to make people happy," Scott Harper said.
The idea started three years ago, when pastor Keith Stewart took a mission trip to Kenya. Now the entire church shares the mission, fighting AIDS and bringing fresh water to Katito -- one of the poorest villages on Earth.
"Kids in the developing world are dying because of diarrhea today, and it's all because of a lack of clean water," Stewart said.
In three years, this blue-collar congregation has sent more than three-quarters of a million dollars to Africa. They hope to send more, using something called the reverse gift card. It looks like a regular gift card, but the words on the back explain the difference.
It says, in part, "This card is like no other gift you'll ever receive, because this simple card was given to you to help save a life. This $50 gift will purchase enough food to feed a child for five months."
Donna Fyffe said she was glad to make the donation.
"My husband and I, instead of giving each other a gift, we sent what we would have spent to our family in Katito," she said.
Instead of gifts to each other, the Fyffes shared a letter from the child they sponsor. It included a picture of the cow they bought, and the clothes and flour the child received. The cow will give them milk to drink, plus some extra that they can sell.
"That was Christmas, opening that letter," Donna Fyffe said. "That was the biggest gift I could have got."
These families believe 'giving different' makes the world a better place. And they hope the idea catches on.
