We were extremely blessed with donations from the U.S. in 2008! We were sent financial donations, as well as toys, coloring books, watches, candy, sandals, toothbrushes, toothpaste, and many more things for the children!Most of the things were given with the intent of Christmas for the children. However, as I said before, we were extemely blessed, so we continue to spread the kindness and generousity from these donations!
We had one church from Alabama who made these bags for the children at the camp. As you can see, there are toys, candy, books, crayons, etc.!
From the donations that we received, we bought the children backpacks and filled them with school supplies!
The backpacks were filled with notebooks, drawing paper, rulers, pens, pencils, colored pencils, water bottles, etc.!
Not only have we been blessed with donations for the children, but we have also been blessed by others who want to be a part of the work that God is doing with these children! Miguel and Edneia, with their 2 children, have asked to help, and we welcome them with open arms!
Before we get started with any activity, there is always a prayer led by one of the boys! When asked to lead a prayer, all of the boys raise their hands!
Lee had the idea of showing the children a dvd while we prepared the gifts and snacks for the children. As you can see, they are watching Chicken Little!
As the movie was winding down, we started calling the children to come line up for their gifts! Lee and I took turns calling out their names, and presenting them with their backpacks! They were very exited to get their backpacks and school supplies because a lot of them are not able to afford these things.
As an extra surprise, we put the gift bags from the Alabama church in the children's backpacks! That way, when they opened their backpacks, they saw much needed school supplies, and some things for having fun!We asked the children for a photo showing the gift bags, and then asked them to turn around and show their backpacks! They were very happy to do so!
Not all of the children received backpacks. We purchased the backpacks and school supplies before Christmas while they were on sale. They were for the 30 children we worked with in 2008.
Now the list has grown to 48 children!
We had a church in Florida who sent the children some sandals, shampoos, toothpastes, etc., so we made the new children a gift bag with these things!As you can see, the children were excited about these things, and were eager to show their gift bags and sandals to the others!
Since this is a small community, the children tend to take care of each other. If some of the children are not present when we call their names, the others always tell us where the absent children are! So some of the children ran to tell those who did not show up that we had backpacks for them!
God blessed us with a great day of joy and happiness, both for the children and ourselves!Our joy comes from seeing the excitement in the children's faces, not only because of the gifts, but because they know that God loves them, and has provided them people here and in the U.S. who love and care for them!
They thank God for both you and us in their prayers!
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