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FAMILY CHRISTMAS

On Christmas Eve we invited the 33 sponsored kids in Bamako (out of 51 total) to our base for a special dinner of Western chicken (with meat!) and fries and a drink, and nearly all of them made it. We joined them in our dining hall and had a great time sharing this special meal together; every single one still had leftovers to take home with them. Since some kids come from further away, they had to say good-bye after the meal. But only after they had come to our living room, where all the gifts were, including the gift bags we'd put together for the sponsored kids, and Tammy and Emmy handed them their bags, a gift in the name of their sponsors.

Those who could stay gathered in our living room to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior together. We talked about Christmas, I asked them questions to see what they knew, and wanted to know what names of Jesus they could tell me. We focused on Him being the light. We could not find sparklers anywhere this year, and so we had little candles. Mine lit Paul's, and then we continued passing on the light until everyone had a lit candle in hand. We sang HAPPY BIRTHDAY for Jesus and then prayed together.

Besides Jesus we had another special guest that night. My prodigal son Joseph had returned to see me the day before - 4.5 years after he had left and broken my heart. I had prayed and even had dreams about the day he would come back. I broke down crying, when I saw him at the door and put my arms around my son I had longed to see again. It was a great joy that he returned the next day to spend Christmas Eve with us. I asked him to come forward, and we all laid hands on him and prayed blessings over him.

After singing a worship song Joseph had written, and him leading it, it was time for the gifts. Sammy had already received his gift right in the beginning, as he was tired and needed to go to sleep. The other two were too excited to go to bed and never seemed tired at all, and so they ended up being my assistants, staying up until the very end. The kids and adults came forward one after another, receiving a gift and picking a chocolate off the Christmas tree. Then everyone watched that person open their gifts. We all had a great time together.

More pictures of that evening on our website here.

KIDS CHRISTMAS PARTY

This year scheduling was a challenge, as the government had decided to follow a Muslim instead of French (Christian) calendar for the first time, meaning no school kids had any days off around Christmas. For that reason we had to do our Kids Christmas Party on Sunday, the 26th. Over the past few years the number of children coming had been increasing with every party. We had 1400 last Easter, and this time 2400 came!

We had little papers with numbers up to 1000 that we handed to them as they came in, together with candy, and then Paul let another 400 in without giving them papers. With that many children we'll have to find a new way of doing things in the future, especially if the numbers keep increasing. Paul still succeeded in playing games with all those children and narrow it down to one winner at the end. Then Paul sang a few praise songs with the children, before everyone sat down on the ground. Paul explained the gospel to them, from beginning to end, and then had a Q&A time to see if they had listened, giving out candy for correct answers. Then he prayed with them to receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior. (Nearly) 1400 hands were raised into the air, and the voices of as many children could be heard, proclaiming the Lordship of Jesus over their lives.

Then it was time for the shoe distribution. Our children set up 1400 pairs of shoes in our dining hall, leaving no room on the ground anywhere, and also put out the 1000 drinks we had for them. One by one, according to their number on the paper, they came in to get a pair of shoes and a drink, and then left. In the end nothing was left. When Paul looked outside our gates, another 1000 children were gathered there, waiting to come in. And so Paul went on our roof and preached the gospel again to those children outside, then praying a prayer of commitment with them. Once lunch was ready, anyone who wanted to could come in and eat.

More pictures of our celebration on our website here.

CHRISTMAS IN THE VILLAGES

Because of the children not having any days off school, we have to do our village Christmas celebrations on Sunday. Last Sunday was the first one. Paul took 600 pairs of shoes and 400 toys and stuffed animals to the village of Dara. He has developed a good relationship with the school director there who let us use a classroom for the distribution. They covered the floor in shoes and toys, then Paul went outside, where the children had formed a long line, waiting to come inside to get their gift. But first Paul preached the gospel to them - on public school grounds, in front of a Muslim school director. Then he invited them to pray a prayer of commitment with him, and the voice of hundreds of children could be heard, penetrating the air, and proclaiming that Jesus is Lord.

Paul had a lot of helpers for the distribution. Not only were there the young men he had brought with him from our center, but Aboudou, the village chief's now-Christian son I have told you about, as well as other church members from the village. There was also an elder from the village council who was there. Everyone was really impressed with what they were seeing.

When the 1000 shoes and toys were gone, there were still hundreds of children waiting to get in. Paul made the spontaneous decision to buy 400 drinks, and so the remaining children all received drinks. Nobody left empty-handed, and most importantly, everybody had heard the good news and why we were giving them a gift in the name of the One who loves them.

Next Sunday we'll be doing the same all over again in the village of Sebela, and the Sunday after in the new village of Darala, together with the team coming from Austria. Please pray for that. And thank you for giving, whether money or toys/stuffed animals, to make all this possible. A special thank you to CCARA, a small German NGO, who has financed the shoes distributed so far. We still need to buy more shoes for the next two villages and are thankful for any help.

More pictures from the village distribution on our website here.

VISITING TEAM

We're excited to welcome a team of four from my home church in Vienna in Mali next week, over 14 years since the last team. Given the warfare we've already seen, God is about to do great things as they'll preach the gospel and heal the sick in Bamako and the villages. Please pray for them, pray for our and their preparations, and pray for the people they'll encounter. They'll be staying for a week, and then we'll be returning to Austria together. Please pray for our long trip with a stopover in another African country and a 10-hour layover in Paris. Pray also that Mali won't introduce the vaccine mandate to enter and leave the country before the 19th, when we leave. If it wasn't for that mandate, we would consider staying in Mali longer, as we'll be in a lockdown once we get to Vienna.

QUICK NEWS

•        Daily Blog - If you are not on Facebook but would still like to read my daily blog about our life (with the triplets), including pictures, you can do so on our website. Go to https://h2tni.org/blog/.

•        New Year's Eve - Everyone living in our center plus Paul gathered in our living room to look back at the last year, looking at all the pictures and videos, and talking about it and thanking the Lord for all He's done. We also looked ahead and prayed for the coming year, before welcoming the New Year with cheers and hugs. Emmy had woken up early in the evening and ended up staying with us the whole night, while his siblings were sleeping.

•        Volunteer Margit - It was such a blessing that the Lord sent us Margit to fly to Mali with us and stay with us until the arrival of the team next week. She mainly spent time with the triplets, making it possible for me to work, as well as for Randy to do some much-needed repairs. She's enjoyed her time in Mali, exploring also our neighborhood and venturing into town and a village.

•        Sponsors Needed - We still have 4 children in the village of Dara that are looking for sponsors. They made drawings for their future sponsors for Christmas, hoping they'd soon have people who make their schooling possible. Look here to see who still needs a sponsor. A sponsorship is $60 or 50€ per month and half-sponsorships are also possible.

•        The Triplets - All three are doing great, really enjoying life in Mali. Every day they go outside to see the sheep and chickens close up, and they love it, when our Malian children are home from school and have a few minutes to come over to play with them, which is not often enough. Sammy has really increased his vocabulary in recent weeks and has also made progress physically with his sitting and standing up. He's just been in some pain with a big new tooth breaking through. All three kids had a vomiting spell just after Christmas and have had diarrhea since, and it's only improving slowly.

•        Randy's Permit - Randy had put in the paper work for the extension of his permit to stay in Austria in June. Every few weeks they demanded more papers that we provided, and the requests became more and more ridiculous, as if they didn't want to give him the permit. Without it he could have been in trouble leaving the country. On the last work day before leaving for Mali Randy received his permit!

•        Security Situation - We had a coup last year as well as this year, and it seems unlikely that there will be elections in February as planned. But insecurity is rising as the French have pulled out most of their people by the end of last year. Thankfully the UN and EU is increasing its presence as a result. Jihadists are still a threat, controlling big parts of the country, and always trying to expand their territory.

•        Permit & Deed - Every time there is a coup, new personnel is put into place and we have to start the whole process again. Now that they have stopped and picked up work again several times, Paul continues going to meetings so we can have our building permit and title deed soon. Please pray to that end.

•        Our Neighbors - We moved to our base in 2008, and since then, our neighborhood has filled with houses and people. Many of our neighbors are against us because we're Christians and have tried over and over again to get rid of us, but God has always thwarted all their plans. Now they have formed an organization whose only goal is to get rid of us. Please pray for God's love to cover our neighborhood.

•        First-Grade Teacher - We are still looking for a French-speaking first grade teacher to join our team. There is such a need for a good, Christian school where the children are treated with dignity and learn something. Many of our Muslim neighbors would send their children to our school. Please pray we'll find a teacher!

•        Malian Director Paul - Paul has been so busy over Christmas that he's already tired before the team even gets here. Please pray for him these next two weeks, for supernatural strength to do everything that's needed.

•       Volunteers - Do you want to come change an orphan's life? Do you want to heal the sick? Preach the gospel to those who've never heard? Come to Mali for a season and let God change your life. No language skills needed, but French skills are helpful.

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. (Isa 61:1-2a)

Loving HIM,

Claudia (& Randy)