The least of these

Over the past couple years, the refugee crisis in the Middle East has weighed heavily on my heart. I felt so helpless reading stories about these innocent people who had to leave everything behind and flee for their lives, and the hardships they experience in the countries they take refuge in. So I jumped at the opportunity I had to visit my friend who is part of a team in Jordan that works with refugees from Syria and Iraq.

Baby clothes which were donated
by friends before I left

The families which my friend works with live in apartments in their village. When new families come to the village, they are registered and included on the schedules of visits from the team. The home visits help to establish relationships with the families, and also to assess their needs - food, clothing, mattresses, etc. Once the needs are registered and the team receives donations, they know exactly which families these donations should go to.

This lady was so grateful for the bag
of vegetables we dropped off

One of the sources of donations comes from a guy who saw the work that the team does with the refugee families and was moved to support them. Every week, he sends a truck load of produce from his farm, full of crates of whichever vegetables are in season. I was able to help transfer the vegetables from 200 crates to bags, and journey with the team to deliver these goodies to families which were very appreciative of them.

Crates of melongene, corn and zucchini

Apart from the trauma of having to leave almost everything behind in their home country, which many of them have no hope of ever returning to, refugees have the additional challenge of being unable to work in the country where they have settled. This is understandable to an extent, because the host country has to put priority on providing jobs for their own citizens. But it makes it difficult and almost impossible for the refugees to survive, unless they have an external source of income.

Knitted hats and cross stitched bookmark

There is a program that is run for women to help them through this crisis. Twice a week, they gather at a community center to make craft items which are then sold to visitors; the women get all the profits. This program gives them a sense of purpose as they have an opportunity to work with their hands to provide for their families. It also provides an outlet for them to share their experiences, joys and struggles with one another as they work, and to build meaningful friendships with women who would have otherwise been strangers.

Focused on their work

At the community center there is another program - this time for children 12 and under. They learn to read and write in both Arabic and English. They also get to sing, play and do crafts, giving them a couple hours of "normal childhood" experiences that so many of us take for granted. The smiles on their faces and the excitement when they arrive at class is evidence that they are benefiting from this program.

Getting to know the students on my first day with them

 One day their regular teacher was not feeling well, so she asked if me and another girl who was visiting could take the class and we were elated! It was lots of fun, because we did not have a translator to work with, and their English was very limited. However, we used games to help them review their letters and numbers, and then we played a version of Basket Turnover using the colors of the chairs they were sitting on. Finally, they had to act out verbs which we gave them like jump, sit and cry. We all had lots of fun.

Reviewing letters on the board

During the winter months, life gets even more difficult for the refugees as they have to survive the drop in temperature. For many of them, the places where they live do not come with heating, and it is very expensive for them to get heaters. Thanks to those of you who gave so generously before my trip, and those who sent funds while I was there, we were able to purchase gas heaters for 67 families, and gas bottles for 50 families who needed them. They were so grateful to have one less thing to worry about.

Team members delivering a heater and
gas tank to a family

Apart from working with the refugees, we had an opportunity to spend a few days in a village to support a local church there. It was a beautiful 3 hour drive along the Dead Sea to get there. The team helped to repaint an outdoor court for football and basketball, and to preach at a couple of meetings. There was a children's program where I was able to share a message based on the story of Noah and it was really well received. The pastor was very grateful for our help, because the labourers in his area are few.

Sharing the message through a translator

It was hard to say goodbye to the people whom I had grown so close to in just under 2 weeks. It was a wonderful opportunity to partner with this team and see firsthand the great work they were doing to reach out to those in need. I am tremendously grateful for those who supported me in all the various ways to enable me to serve in this capacity.

Bonding with a Syrian baby :)

Matthew 25:37, 38, 40 - Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You?' And the King will answer and say to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.'

Doing good to all people

I am not, by definition, a Christmas person. However, there is a certain level of generosity that is shown at this time of the year, so I follow Paul's encouragement in Galatians 6:10 to use every opportunity to "do good to all people".

My serving started two weeks before Christmas, at the Christmas Village hosted by Open Bible. It provided an opportunity for small businesses to set up booths and sell items to those who visited to do their Christmas shopping, and listen to the gospel artistes who sang every night. ITNAC had a table and many people who stopped by learnt about the ministry, and some persons signed up as volunteers. We were able to sell some items and the funds used were sent to Haiti. These helped cover expenses for the team who went over there for Christmas to share God's love with the Haitians, especially those who were affected by Hurricane Matthew.

ITNAC booth at Christmas Village

One week before Christmas, a team from ITNAC joined with partners from Maritime to bless the community of Sobo Village in Palo Seco. This is an annual tradition that is eagerly anticipated by both the villagers and our volunteers. We are encouraged when we see the joy on the faces of the children who receive gifts, and the parents who receive hampers. We were also able to serve a hot meal to all who turned out, and it was a great time of fellowship for all.

The children got snack bags too

Very excited to receive her present

Time to eat!

Distribution of hampers

On Christmas morning, I woke up bright and early to meet with other ITNAC volunteers to pack breakfast boxes for the families we were going to visit. Thanks to our generous donors, each box contained a ham sandwich, a pastelle, an apple and some grapes. We also had hampers and presents for the children in each family. We decided to split up, with one team visiting families along the East/West corridor, and another team heading South.

Delicious breakfast lovingly made by our supporters 

The first house we visited was in Chase Village where a disabled woman lives with her friend and her brother. Her friend is currently unemployed and has a 9 month old baby, and her brother is losing his eyesight so it is difficult for him to work. The lady really enjoyed the Christmas carols we sang for her, and she even joined us in singing. She was very grateful and much cheered by our visit. Please pray for her friend to get a job. She is an excellent cook so she wants to start selling food; she hopes to get her food badge in January God willing.

Teaching the next generation that it is better to give than to receive

Our second stop was in Palo Seco where a couple live so close to a river that their house is almost situated in the river. Due to heavy rainfall in south on Christmas Eve, their clothes which were soaking in a tub outside, the baby's playpen and stroller and their gas tank washed away down the river. The water got into the house as well so when we visited the mother was in the process of cleaning again, because she had already cleaned for Christmas. They was very encouraged by our visit, and the hamper which they received.

One of our youngest volunteers sharing joy on Christmas morning

The last family we blessed lived in Gonzales Village, Point Fortin. The mother had not been working for over a year, because she broke her ankle really badly and had only just started back walking without crutches. She has 5 children that she takes care of on her own. The gifts we gave to her children were the first gifts they got for the season, so they were very happy to receive them. Please pray that she will find a job early in January 2017.

Praying with one of the families we visited

My prayer is that this spirit of generosity would not lie dormant until Christmas 2017, but that we would continue to look out for opportunities to be a blessing to those around us who are not as fortunate every day of the year.

Galatians 6:10 - Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.