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.
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| 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.
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| 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
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| 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.
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| Smiling faces! |
Thanks for sharing.
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