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FAMILY CHRISTMAS

On Christmas Eve all the nearly 50 children in our sponsorship program and those working for us were invited to our center for a special Christmas meal of chicken, fries and a drink. Because of the current gas crisis, the cost for that meal had increased a lot but for many of them it's the only time of year they get a special meal like that and they greatly enjoyed it. This year not only one of my grown-up kids came, but also two of the pastors Paul has raised up in the vllages which was special. After having eaten, each child received a gift bag in the name of their sponsors - school supplies, hygiene articles and candy.

    

 

CHRISTMAS PARTY FOR CHILDREN

On Christmas Day we invited all the children on the street and in our neighborhood to our center for a party. Paul's older brother who works for the police sent a few policemen to protect our center during this special event. Children started gathering early in the morning, and then the gates opened for them to come in. Every child received a number that they later used to get their present. About 2000 children came - many more later once the party was already over.

    

First Paul played a few games with them until there was a winner. Then they all went inside the hall where Paul led them in a few upbeat praise songs. Next he shared the gospel with them, from the beginning to the end and asked questions to see whether they had listened. He closed with a prayer of commitment to receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Then it was time for the gift distribution. Paul and our children laid out all the shoes, clothes and drinks in our hall, then the children came in one by one in the order of the number received at the gate. We distributed 300 pairs of shoes, 930 pieces of clothing and 377 drinks. Once the food was ready, the children who were there sat down to eat our Christmas meal.

    

Later that day parents from the neighborhood started coming to see Paul and thank him from their bottom of their hearts. Over and over Paul heard them tell him that they have lost their jobs because of the fuel crisis so that they don't even have enough to feed their kids which makes a new piece of clothing a luxury item. Thank you so much to all those who have helped us purchase these gifts that did not just make an impact in the natural but very much in the spiritual realm as well.

    

 

CHRISTMAS IN THE VILLAGE

Last Sunday Paul went to the village of Dara unannounced to distribute much-needed Christmas gifts there. Why announced? For the simple reason so that the jihadists could not make any plans to attack the distribution. The night before he went to Dara he called the village chief and school director to let them know we were coming the next morning. Even though it was late, word started spreading right away, and people started lining up at 2 am in the morning, in the cold.

    

Paul and his team also arrived early and started lying out all the clothes and shoes on the classroom floor. More and more children started gathering outside. He then preached the gospel to them and prayed a prayer of salvation with them. Then they started coming in one by one to pick out what they wanted. 1300 pairs of shoes and 500 pieces of clothing were distributed. The merchant where we always buy those was so kind to allow us to pay him later as we did not have the money at this time. If any of you would like to help us pay those bills, we'd be very thankful. 1800 children who have nothing received clothes or shoes which their parents would not be able to afford and heard the gospel and had an opportunity to start a life with Jesus.

    

While the distribution was going on, jihadists were attacking a government institution just 3 kilometers (less than 2 miles) away and killed 3 workers and kidnapped one. We thank God for protecting Paul and the people of Dara.