Dear Friends:
We had a great time at our annual Christmas Fiesta last weekend! We probably had 35 volunteers helping with organizing games and events for the kids, preparing and cooking the food, setting up the speaking area, the chairs and tables, getting the Christmas presents all together for the kids, dividing up 100 kilo bags of flour, rice, and beans for families, and then when it was all over, breaking everything down. It was a very busy, but very rewarding weekend.
I dressed up as Santa Claus for a little drama we did, and what really touched me afterwards was how many little kids wanted to come up to me and just look at me, or to have me pick them up, or to take a picture with me. Maybe next year, we should all dress up like Jesus and his disciples!
Next month, we will not be meeting until the third weekend, January 18. The kids will be starting a new semester in school then, and we will continue encouraging families to follow God’s call not to fear, but rather, to be bold and courageous in seeking all that God wants for us! This became a theme in the Bible when the children of Israel were to conquer the pagan cultures around them and to claim the blessings of a land that would provide abundance for their lives. The theme carries throughout the Bible, encouraging us to always seize God’s promises and to reject the fear caused by our enemy, Satan. This fear is usually most evident in the pagan culture we live in, where everything is working to rob our love, our hope, our peace, our joy.
Our culture that has rejected God is full of lonely people, people who harm others, people who make entertainment a primary goal, and people who turn themselves into their own god. Our hope during this Christmas season is that we who know and celebrate the true meaning of Christmas will be able to point others to Jesus, who is truly supposed to be the source and the goal of our lives, as Colossians 3:11 says, “Christ is all, and in all.” May our churches be filled with the lonely, the lost, and the hurting this Christmas season, and may they find help and encouragement from us as they look to Jesus.
Each church group received their gifts from our sponsors together. Many of you went out and bought cool Christmas gifts for your students, and what a blessing it was for them! They received all kinds of clothing, games, balls, whatever you came up with for them! We went shopping for those of you who didn’t have time to shop. The monthly letters you send them and these gift remembrances are a huge blessing for them, showing them that there are people who care for them, even when we don’t live in the same place they do!
Merry Christmas,
Jim and Pat