Well for several weeks before Christmas we had been practicing for the play. I had originally wanted to work on a more elaborate play, but I decided that for this year a simpler one was more fitting (for several reasons that I won’t go into detail) Anyway, the kids worked hard and learned their parts and knew the songs so well. I was so proud of them. Let me first share with you a few pictures from our several dress rehearsals.
This little guy said, “this is the 2nd stuffed animal I have. Isn’t it beautiful?” How many children do we know that have only 2 stuffed animals? We are so blessed.
Bia was all smiles when she picked out her pink teddy bear
Thank you again for your generosity. The children were so happy.
Cindy brought along a large amount of stuffed animals and there were enough for each of the kindergarten children. Thank you Cindy, Mom and all of Cindy’s friends who gave these animals. The kids loved them!
Each child picked out the animal they wanted
This is the youngest fellow that is at the kindergarten and he was able to pick the first animal. He sure loved that little dog
We were too busy handing out packs to take pictures during the whole process, so most of the pictures I took were of the children right before they were walking out the door. You can see how happy they were.
The children all say, “Thank you for giving to the Lord”…….
Well, the 170 gypsy packs were completed and ready for handing out, but as I’ve told you in the past, I couldn’t just go to the church with a van full of packs without causing a big disturbance. Every year I’ve had to take the bags to the church in the evening before I would hand out the packs. That way the people in the community wouldn’t be aware of what was about to transpire.
Well this year the pastor had access to a car and felt like the best thing would be for him to take the packs to the church. He felt it would be a better option than my vehicle showing up at night. So late one evening we filled up his car (three times) and we were ready for handing out the packs the next day.
Cindy and Jay were still here and also Luci came along to help. Things went much quicker with extra hands.
The pastor had the bags all arranged in the front of the church and the children could hardly contain themselves. You must realize that these children have so little and this Christmas bag is something extra special for them.
Because of the generous offering from Lebanon GMC, I was also able to purchase a banana and orange for each of the children and I must tell you how thrilled they were with these fruits. I am not exaggerating when I say that this is probally the only time some of this children will receive a banana and orange this year. So you can imagine their excitement.
Well it has been a hectic past few weeks, but thank the Lord for His help and His strength. The Christmas programs went well, the Christmas packs are all handed out and now I am just trying to catch my breath :). The next few blogs will be full of pictures of all the things that were going on for Christmas. There will be no chronilogical order, but you will get the idea.
Let me first start with the making of the Christmas packs. While my sister Cindy and Jay were here, they were a big help in this department. They went shopping with me, helped carry all the stuff in and then the work of making up the packs. We worked first on the gypsy packs. This year we made 170 packs. Here is how we had everything set up.
If you look closely you can see what we place in the packs: soap, laundry soap, shampoo, lotion, toothpaste, toothbrush, chocolates, peanuts, cheese doodles, biscuits, pretzels, candy, gum, straw, balloon, etc. etc.
Thank you to all who gave towards the Christmas packs. A special thank you to Lebanon God’s Missionary Church for your generous giving. The gypsy children were thrilled with their packs. Check out the next blog for pictures.
I again apologize for the silence, but Christmas is a very busy time for me, as I’m sure it is for many of you. After Christmas I hope to be able to find time to share pictures with you from the Christmas programs, Christmas packs and Christmas gifts that were handed out.
I would ask you to please pray for our Christmas programs. We have services Christmas Eve, 2 services on Christmas day and 2 services the day after Christmas. There will be many visitors, including parents and family members that normally don’t attend church and we are praying that this Christmas as they hear about what Christmas really means, that they will accept God’s gift sent to us, Jesus, the Saviour of the world.
Last week the youth group took part in a special Christmas service. We were one of many youth groups to share in song. I thought maybe you would enjoy hearing the song that we sang. As you can tell by their faces, many of the young people were nervous, but the Lord helped us as we sang.
Well with Christmas just around the corner, I have been busy with practices for programs. Here are a few pictures of those practices and also the kids on their way out the door.
My little angels waiting to appear before the shepherds. Aren’t they so cute?
My sister Cindy handing out lollipops during break time
The kids are met with 2 smiling faces as they walk out the door.
