A special day

 Christmas Day was never mentioned in the Bible, nor were we ever encouraged to celebrate Jesus' birth. But over the years, it has been used by Christ followers to focus on the Son of God coming to earth in the form of a man. This was the only way that He could qualify to take from us the punishment of death which was our penalty for sin. As someone who was fully God, He never sinned, yet as someone who was fully man, He could die instead of us. He did this so that our sins could be removed, and we could once more be in the presence of a holy God, which was not possible because of our sin. I don't celebrate Christmas the way most people do (cleaning, decorating, shopping), but I use the opportunity it provides to share this message of hope for eternal life with Christ with persons who I would not normally come into contact with.

Their mother was hospitalized a few days before
Christmas so they were very surprised to be 
showered with food and gifts on that day!

For years ITNAC has had a tradition of going out on Christmas morning to deliver breakfast boxes, hampers and gifts to families who are not well off. As a faith-based organization, we also use the opportunity to share Jesus with them. We get donations from persons locally and abroad who are happy to support us sharing the love of God on this special day. This year our list was longer than ever, as we had met so many families this year who were negatively affected economically due to covid-19. We divided the families into geographical areas and assigned volunteers to visit the families in each area. One of our team members baked the bread (32 loaves!) and another one baked the ham. 

Is it really a Trini Christmas if there is no ham?

Up to Christmas Eve, we didn't have any fruit or additional items to go along with the bread and ham sandwiches. My friend who I used to work with 13 years ago messaged me at 8.30am on December 24th to say that she had a financial gift towards our Christmas outreach. When I asked, she agreed to go to purchase apples that could go in the breakfast boxes. Imagine she was prepared to walk through Tunapuna market on Christmas Eve with 130 apples in a bag! Then, around 8.30pm Mummy told me she would be doing pastelles. To top it off, when I called a friend after 9pm that night to ask if she could bake something sweet for 6am the following morning, she said yes! My family and friends are simply the best :D

Roped in my friend from high school to keep me company

At all the homes we visited, the families received us warmly, and the children were so excited to receive their presents. When we asked, most of the children said that what made the day special was getting gifts and eating food, so we used the opportunity to share about the importance of Jesus' coming to earth, and how His coming enabled us to draw close to God. We challenged the parents to read Luke 2 with their children after the presents were opened as the food was consumed, so they could hear the details about how Jesus came into the world. We prayed with each family before we left for the next household.

Smiling faces!

We thank God for the privilege of being His hands and feet to bring joy and a message of God's love on this special day. Thanks to all those who support our organization in any way, because without you, we would not be able to do what we do :)

Wrapping up 2020

 As I reflect on how 2020 turned out, much differently than I could ever have anticipated, I continue to be in awe at God's faithfulness and provision. Thanks to the technology available today, we were still able to reach out and impact the lives of many, with some slight adjustments to the conventional method of delivery. Singles Camp was one such ministry that we were able to execute using the Zoom platform. Over the last weekend in November, single persons from a variety of backgrounds (including overseas participants) engaged in this year's event entitled "Cabin Fever". We focused on issues affecting our target audience arising out of the covid-19 restrictions that have been in place over the past nine months.

Camp flyer

On Friday night we examined how social media can hinder our relationship with God if not used wisely. The acronoym SIGHT was used to encourage us to set a godly Standard for our social media use, ensure that our behaviour reflects Intimacy with God, is God-centered and displays Humility, and that we employ proper Time Management. On Saturday morning our facilitator offered practical strategies to deal with the effects of fear and anxiety which have accompanied the pandemic. Later in the day we hosted a panel discussion in which the panelists shared how they dealt with feelings of loneliness and isolation resulting from covid-19 restrictions. On Sunday afternoon participants were encouraged to check their "temperature" to ascertain their spiritual health. When asked about spiritual decisions made at the end of the camp, here is what some participants had to say:

[I was convicted] of changes [that] needed to be made in my life and [received] fresh motivation to make them. It also provided me with the tools and techniques to reach those goals.

My spiritual decision coming out of this camp is to actually make the time to spend in God's Word and in His presence. At present my time with God is limited and almost small and God needs so much more than that from me.

Cabin New Normal really made me sit with myself and start changing myself for God. I had a strong conviction to cut out all my hesitations and just do.

Panelists from Solitary Confinement Cabin

Last year we held a massive breakfast and concert for the Venezuelan children and their parents who were a part of our English classes. This year, that celebration was held on Zoom, with games and dancing to local gospel parang. I shared the Biblical account of Jesus' birth using as simple English words as I could find, and I was astounded to hear a little boy's voice translating everything that I said into Spanish for those who may not have understood! I have no idea who the child was, as I was operating a Power Point presentation at the time. We began at creation when sin entered the world, and spoke about how Jesus was God's solution to sin, giving us the chance to once more be close to God. The only thing that was missing was food and gifts, but these will be provided to the children by the leaders of the organization next week God willing.

Playing "Dance and Freeze"

I stayed up until 4am last week Friday wrapping presents for the children from Bible Club, and after seeing their reactions upon receiving their gifts, I was so glad that I did. They were not expecting anything - we just told them that it was going to be the last session of Bible Club for the term. The Bible lesson was about the significance of Jesus' birth, and the children quickly realized that He was born so that He could die for our sins. There were some funny moments, such as when they were asked who were the first visitors after Jesus was born and their response was "the disciples", and the reaction of the teens when they realized that Joseph was not the father "So how Mary get pregnant?" They also thoroughly enjoyed their snack boxes which contained pastelles and candy canes in addition to the usual treats.

The younger ones couldn't wait to open their gifts.
The teens wanted to save theirs until Christmas because
they said it was probably the only gift they would get this year.

Later that evening, I headed into St. James for ITNAC's Thanksgiving service. We still have a little over $300K outstanding to complete the payment for the transition house, but we wanted to acknowledge how far God has brought us, to praise Him for what He has already done, and to declare our trust in Him to complete what He started. Our servant leader Avonelle organized tokens for all the team members who have been labouring in the fundraising efforts, and we really enjoyed an invigorating time of worship, thanksgiving, challenge from the Word and fellowship (while observing covid-19 protocols). On the way home from the event, the car containing 4 of our team members was hit but thankfully there were no serious injuries although the car was badly damaged. We refused to let the enemy dampen our joy, and continue to rely on the faithfulness of our God to see us to the finish line of paying off the outstanding balance on the building.

For every mountain You've brought me over...
For this I'll give you praise

One of the things that our church family missed from our pre-covid-19 days was our times of fellowship. I was asked to serve on a committee to plan and execute an event that would facilitate persons coming together for a time of sharing, testimonies, encouragement, and also some good old fashioned fun. We had a getting to know you activity in which we learnt some very intriguing things about one another. We went into break out rooms to share about what we were thankful for, and what we have learnt during the pandemic. At the end of the event, persons were challenged to maintain the connections with one another. The feedback we received was very encouraging, as those who attended enjoyed themselves fully and were encouraged by all the testimonies and experiences shared.

I am not sure what 2021 will look like, but I am convinced that the same God whose faithfulness took me through 2020 is going to be with me next year every step of the way, and for me, that is enough.