Christmas Blessings

Today was extremely special for 10 families in each of the communities we serve and for me as well. Last week my boss decided to hand out baskets of food. She told the leader of each community where we serve to select 10 families. Some of my supporters jumped in and contributed with donations for the children of my community. I had a wonderful time seeking God's will for the donations and watching God respond. He is so awesome!

Last week my coworker and I went to the mall. After praying hard about how we should bless the families, God led us straight to the best deals for the items we needed to purchase. We got sweaters, necklaces and earring for the Honduran tradition of dressing up on Christmas Eve and yummy smelling lotions for the ladies. For the boys we got sweaters (it's really here right now!) and baseball hats. Everyone got lotion, a chocolate marshmallow santa, and socks and a candy cane. They also got a hand embroidered cloth to keep their tortillas warm.

On Tuesday I went to a little town outside of Tegucigalpa. I found crosses for each of the families as well as another decoration for their homes. The second thing had everything Honduras is known for - pottery, red beans, coffee. Each one was hand painted and unique. I felt strange when I ended up with two wall decorations, but people LOVED it!!!! I think they loved that silly thing more than their food! They were proud that a donor chose something made in Honduras. That was the only gift I was kind of hesitant about, but God certainly knew what he was doing with that one!

I went to my office today at 8:40. There was a family already there, waiting outside in the rain. We all piled into my car to get out of the rain and wait for the key to arrive. I noticed the lady hasn't been in a car before. She didn't know how to open and close the car door with the door handle. She was wearing a jacket way too big for her, with a safety pin to close it in the front.

I explained to them that the gifts in my car were not gifts from me, that I was only transporting gifts from donors. I don't want people to start thinking that I am there to give them material things.

The little boy would not allow me to carry any of the bags. He carried everything upstairs when my coworker arrived with the keys. What a sweetie! I told him I admired his willingness to help. We are trying hard to encourage that sort of behavior.

When we got upstairs he helped me set out all of the crosses and the other wall ornament. I thought it would be nice to let each family choose their own since each one was a little different. They loved choosing their own style and explaining to me why they chose the gift they chose. And they couldn't believe that they could choose TWO things for their home. That was very luxurious to them, to get more than one. So I guess it wasn't a crazy idea to get two wall ornaments after all. The crosses were all different. Some had clay designs glued onto them. Some were painted with houses or flowers or butterflies in bright colors. The lady who sold them to me burned "Feliz Navidad 2016"  into the wood on the back. It was a special surprise when they noticed those words.

One girl who has extremely low self esteem became the expert advisor over which ornament they should choose for their family. She told them which was the "coolest". She wasn't pushy about it, but the families did take her advice, which I hope may help her build self esteem.

We had one family show up uninvited. Oh boy. This lady does stuff like this all of the time I'm told. We called our boss who decided to go back and get an extra bucket of food for the lady. Somehow the crosses and the other ornament multiplied. In the end everyone got a cross and a decoration, plus there were three left over - one for each of my coworkers and one for me. I honestly have no idea how that happened. Everyone in the room helped one another pick out their two ornaments per family and I really thought everyone got one of each.

We were all squished in a tiny room, drinking coffee and waiting for my boss to come with the baskets of food. Baskets of food are a tradition here. But my boss showed up with buckets with a handle and a lid! Those things were a big hit. They weighed a ton and were filled with the basic staples of a Honduran kitchen - spaghetti, tomato paste, beans, rice, lard, margarine, cubes of consume and I'm not sure what else. There was also a huge bow, but we didn't attach the bow because we thought it would be more discreet for people to walk down the street with a bucket of food. Robberies are more common in December so it is wiser not to attract attention to the gift.

Everyone posed for photos with their buckets, then they all left. The last ones to get their buckets were the families we chose for the special gifts. We had explained to the entire group that there were additional gifts. We said that we love each of them, but that this time two families would receive a little more. We told everyone that it was because of good grades and the way these families are fighting to get ahead despite the fact that the fathers of the families have recently passed away. I think my coworker did a good job of trying not to let anyone feel left out. One of the girls cried as she heard my coworker speak. She is the one with really low self esteem. Her father died suddenly of a heart attack about five months ago.

She was the first one to get a gift. At first she didn't want to open it, but when she realized that everyone in her family was getting a gift too she was suddenly eager to see what was in the package. I took a photo with her and her new sweater. She said, "Let me see how ugly the photo turned out." I assured her the photo was beautiful, and so is she.

Her sister was shocked to get a gift! The two girls had brought a huge basket of tamales to sell. They are hard workers! They really embody the principles that we want to promote. 

We bought tamales for all while we waited for my boss to arrive with the buckets of food. Their mom couldn't come because they have no security for their house. No fence, no lock and their door is not strong. Someone has to stay home and guard the house at all times. So, we didn't get to see their mom open her gift. But I know she will love it. She was the inspiration for the sweater idea because she was in a tank top in the cold the last time we saw her.

My favorite moment of the whole day was when the grandmother of the three boys pulled her sweater out of the bag. She was wearing a tee shirt and a long, maroon skirt. The skirt and the sweater matched perfectly and she exclaimed. "Look! It's amazing how God knows JUST what we need!" That was my prayer with every single gift I bought, whether it was something that was useful, like the sweater and socks, or something like the decorations. I prayed they would see God's love for them in the gifts.

"God know exactly what we need"

Grandma with two of her three Grandchildren

She also really loved the hand embroidered cloth to keep tortillas warm. But her favorite thing, I think was the Honduran ornament. While she waited for my boss to come, before she received the other gifts, she sat there with her ornament, touching it and gazing at it with the hugest smile. Then she would put it away in her purse. And a minute later she would pull it out again and just stare at the details of it. She was thrilled with that thing. Actually, she seemed grateful for every gift her family received. As she was leaving she thanked everyone profusely. I think she hugged me three times. I told her that we know it is really hard work to raise three grandchildren and be active in the community. I told her we really admire all she is doing. I hope she felt God's love and his presence with her this morning. I believe she did!

Grandma with her ornaments

Her grandsons were super grateful too. The oldest was at home, watching over the house. But the youngest two helped her carry everything back to their house. They live in a really dangerous part of their neighborhood. They seemed to especially like the baseball hats, which was my coworker's idea.

I don't really have any personal ties to any of the people in this community yet. I've only been serving there for about a month. But my heart was full as I saw them all, and specifically that grandmother, be blessed.

We focused on quality over quantity. We really prayed about this whole process and put it into God's hands. I believe that this is exactly what He called us to do today. This whole process has been a huge blessing to me. It was a day I will probably never forget. It made being far from my family at Christmas much more worthwhile.

This grandmother cares for her three grandchildren since their two fathers and mothers were killed

Grandpa cares for his grandchildren

Sisters

This lady thanked us for the gifts. She said thank you for thinking of her.
She said nobody else helps her family at all,
The only support she can count on is through Impacto Juvenil.