Christmas

As stated before, we were given some donations this year for the children that we work with. We decided to spread the giving out, instead of giving everything at once and overwhelming the children. We actually started the giving at the end of November, which you can in the post "Christmas in November?" below! (you can click on the pictures to enlarge them for a better view!)

This is a tag that Lee made up, and put on all the presents that we gave the children! It says: "Merry Christmas" - "May all your dreams come true and may you never stop dreaming about the great things" - "May you have great surprises...and much peace..."








Not only were we able to give the children each a toy, but we also made a gift bag with a fruit cake (they are better here!), a box of chocolate, a stocking of hard candy, and a chocolate milk!

These are photos of the many toys, candy, fruit cakes, bags of marbles, etc. that we gave the children for Christmas. As you can see, there are backpacks as well. We plan to fill the backpacks with school supplies and give them to the children in February when they return to school!

Mr and Mrs. Claus? I don't think so! We are just his helpers! Here, I am making the sacks out of wrapping paper, and Lee is filling them, as well as wrapping other presents!

A table full of presents at the camp, and some of the children waiting to get their presents!









Some of the children were traveling, so some of their family members picked up their presents for them.

The children at the camp love to pray! When we ask who will lead a prayer, almost all of the boys raise their hands.

Here, one of the boys said the prayer, and thanked God for the people in the US who love them, and help them! He also asked that God would bless the people in the US!

Ricardo, one of the Brasilians who helps us with the children, gave a short devotional on the meaning of Christmas. The children were very patient in waiting for their gifts!

We have a list of all the children that we work with and their ages, so we tried to buy a toy that would suit their age.

Here, Lee is reading off the list, and I am helping her to hand out the gifts!

Of course the children were excited about their presents, but most of them waited until they got home to open them. However, some of the children did open their gift bags!

The parents of 6 of the children we work with did not show up to get their children's presents, so we loaded a sack with the gifts, and walked to their house!

Here, the mother of the 6 children is very happy to receive the presents for them!

Here are some of our Brasilian friends who help with the children. Gilmar, his sister Marcia, and Ricardo. I do not remember the name of the guy with the mustache!!

A few months ago when Lee and I were visiting the camp, the mother of a neighbor teenager came running into the camp needing help because her daughter was having a seizure. Lee and I loaded the girl and her mother into our car and took them to the hosptial several miles away.

Over the months, the mother has contiuned to call Lee with updates on her daughter, who has been diagnosed with epilepsy. When we were at the camp giving out the presents, we visited, and the family had made us this cake to show their appreciation!

It was nice because on that night, Lee and I were cooking for several of our single Brasilian friends, and this was our desert!

God is Great, ALL of the time!!

PROCRESCER

There is a group of children that we work with from the flavelas (poor area) in the area of the Boa Viagem church on Saturday mornings. We call this group of children PROCRESCER, which means "Project of Social and Spiritual Growth in Recife."

A few months ago, Lee and I visited the families of the children in their homes. They always come to the church building, so we wanted to go to their homes and visit with them!

This is one of the mothers who always brings the children, Lucilene. Lee studied the Bible with her for over a year, and she was baptized a few months ago!


It was a big step for her because all of her family, including her children, are catholic. None of her family came to her baptism, but that did not stop her! She continues to come to church every Sunday!


Some of the families of the PROCRESCER children!

Just like the children at the camp, we have a list of the names and ages of the children in the project, so we tried to buy them a gift that matched their age!

We gave them all a present, as well as a gift bag with chocolates, fruit cake, and chocolate milk!

One of our biggest surprises was this little boy (above photo) who came with his sister. When he showed up, he was quiet, shy, and even looked like he was about to start crying. But after we gave him a yo-yo for his gift, he really opened up, and started showing everybody! Big things really do come in small packages!


All of the children loved their gifts! We also gave each child a food basket for their family!
If you look closely in the group photos, you can see the food baskets at the feet of the children!





In addition to the Christmas presents in December, we also gave them gift bags and a cup of chocolates in November! The gift bags were filled with things such as a Biblical activity book, crayons, toothpaste, a toothbrush, soap, shampoo, and cotton swabs. These may not seem like much to us, but when you do not have them, it is a really nice gift! The children really liked their gift bags!




Like the children at the camp, these children are also very thankful for you because they know that gifts like these come from the US from people who love and care about them!