Christmas Outreach Part II

The first house we went in was...honestly, indescribable. Not a stick of furniture, just a dirt floor. The windows were covered with plastic. There were no plates, no toilet, no chairs. The mama had put all her children in one room, which had a small fire in a metal can heater. She brought her darling baby out to see us as we handed her bag after bag of food and clothing.

I couldn't wait to get my hands on that baby. Loved that Granny cap they had for the baby.

As we left, the neighbors began to complain about why they didn't get packages. We explained that we had asked the town's office who was the most needy. This family was mentioned. The father is in prison; the mother has no work. We wished we could have helped them all.

We walked back through the streets.

I had to snap this picture. Our sweet Iraqi (refugee) babysitter, who just became a US citizen, lived here. Many, many nights I brought her home to this house.

The next home we went to was the home of some folks I've befriended. They are hard workers, sorting through the trash in the neighborhood each night to find the recyclable goods for a bit of money. In the home are several generations. They manage to keep their kids clean and healthy and send them to school, in spite of their difficult situation. We bought a gift for each of the 9 children in the home, including the 18 year old bride and mother and the 19 year old young daddy.

This little doll nearly came apart trying to get to her gift! For the giver, my student whose family is here on assignment by the US Embassy, it was the first time she'd done anything like this.

We were able to sing a Christmas song for them and just tell them we wanted to bless them in the name of Jesus.

The blessing was all ours.