"Behold a virgin shall... bear a son and they shall call his name Immanuel, which is translated God with us" Matthew 1:23
This Christmas God proved, He is with us!
Our plan was to have all our children from the sponsorship program and the children house come home for Christmas together with many other orphans, needy children and street children from our community.
However it turned out that things have changed economically and affected us much in our country. Prices on all commodities have been hiked to almost double.
We invited over 200 hundred children coming home for Christmas excluding the adults. But God stretched the funds to feed all the children and everyone who came home.
Every year we plan to have lunch with children who would have not enjoyed Christmas, to come and have it with us at our home. Many families in our community are so poor that they can't afford a good meal on Christmas day.
Traditionally in our country,Christmas means eating big and good meals and dressing nicely. I remember i put on my first shoes on Christmas day, i was 10 years. I have never forgotten that Christmas!
Children whose parents cannot afford good clothes and shoes, always spend Christmas day crying, for they feel marginalized.
What happens is that these children feel left out and they go to look for comfort and company from wrong places. In the end, on Christmas day, many children come home with broken heads and others so drunk. It's terrible seeing a 5 year old child drunk. And some young girls end up being raped and abused. We have found out that many young girls get pregnant during the Christmas season not excluding the risk of contracting AIDS and other diseases.
God gave me a heart for making sure that such children feel happy and are safe at Christmas. My desire is that these children will at least have a good meal on Christmas day. I thank God for all the friends that are so supportive in this vision.
This year's Christmas was one of those exciting moments, by 1:00 p.m, after service, our compound was already filled with children, as more and more came in one by one, so happy that they have people who care to have them enjoy their Christmas. It was my great joy to see children all around us and every where; in rooms, in the kitchen and compound.Some people from church helped prepare the meal. We prepared Matoke, potatoes, Rice, chapati,beef and chicken. And it was so delicious. The children ate to their fill. To my surprise the younger children ate two rounds. Each child took a coke (soda) and a cup of bushera (our local drink from sorghum).
We then put on music and children danced for the Lord. The youth played several activities that kept every body entertained. The children enjoyed taking pictures and sharing different stories of what the Lord has done. The kids enjoyed until late in the evening. It was fun!
As the kids were going back, one child asked me, "Pastor will we come back for Christmas next year? "Of course", i answered, "why not?"
I felt so bad for the children who were left behind.We could not invite more children than the funds available, so very many children were left out.
We pray that the Lord will provide more funds next time so that we will help more children.We also pray that the Lord will provide a vehicle that will help transport the children back and forth.
Thank you dear friends who contributed towards this Christmas lunch. You put a smile on the faces of many children. You made their day! May God bless you.
Happy New Year!
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