From the land between the Canal and the Equator

[AmBraCol]

May each and every one of you enjoy a blessed time of celebration during the coming days. The celebration of the birth of Jesus the Christ and the changing of the calendar for a new year bring joy and optimism to those who know the Author of life. My prayer is that each of you have a safe and blessed time of celebration with family and/or friends. I live far from family other than my wife and friends are few, but each year I choose to celebrate and be thankful for the blessings received over the year(s). When I see the impact of the life of that "tiny babe in a manger" on civilization through the centuries, I am filled with gratitude toward our Creator for taking mercy upon wayward mankind and sending us a Light that shines through the darkness to bring hope and Life in Him.

Merry Christmas! and may 2024 bring many blessings to each and every one of us.

[Grizz]

Thanks Paul, and thanks for your service where you are. Prayers UP for all your celebrations and family and friends for all our holydays to come . . . grizz

[AmBraCol]

Thanks Paul, and thanks for your service where you are. Prayers UP for all your celebrations and family and friends for all our holydays to come . . . grizz

Thanks, Grizz!

And this is what it's about...

R-and-me.jpg

This little guy's one of our Venezuelan refugees. His family now lives in a squatters "development" quite a was from where the church meets, but we've been ministering to them for a couple years before they moved - and they still make the effort to come on Sundays. He's got some serious issues going on, exactly what we don't know, but he's got a nervous habit of plucking out his own hair. When we made up the list of kids for folks in the church to "adopt" for Christmas (in order to put together a Christmas box for them) somehow he got left out. We try our best to let others be blessed as well, so I'd not gone through the list to see who's got whom until Friday night - and we saw he'd been left off the list!!!

So yesterday I took the box and put various items I knew would make him happy and some that'd be useful as well. The ladies hit on the unique idea of using a towel and blanket to wrap the boxes (because these kids have so few things they can call their own) and we were given one like the others that'd already been wrapped. We put it together, wrapped it and put it away with the other boxes. So today after the weekly gathering of the church the kids were asked to sit in front and we started calling names and names of the folk who'd "adopted them" so they could personally hand their gift to the child. His name came up first and his face lit up. He told me "THANK YOU!" at least three times before they headed home. Serving the least of these, the hurting, the weak, the truly needy - that is what it's about. As Jesus Himself said, "It is more blessed to give than to receive." and today I was blessed to touch this little guy's life and bring him a bit of joy in the midst of the turmoil that has marked his life.

I pray that all y'all who inhabit this forum may find similar opportunities to serve and to receive the blessings that come from doing so.

[Grizz]

I love the idea of wrapping packages in blankets or towels! Thanks for the details.

[JBowen]

Thank you and Merry Christmas to you, too. May God Bless you and you your mission.

JBowen

[Griff]

Thank you and Merry Christmas to you & yours also.

[gamekeeper]

Thank you and Merry Christmas to you & yours also.

Have great Christmas

[Ysabel Kid]

Merry Belated Christmas, Paul! Keep up God's work!!!