Wednesday, December 14, 2011

come celebrate Christmas


It was the community Christmas Party...
a day of joy for about 300 children from the neighborhood,
planned and coordinated by Mrs. H, a dynamic woman with limitless energy,
who rallied an amazing number of helping hands!


The children flocked in the gates of the school at 2:30 p.m.
and were escorted to the field for a series of games.


They came dressed in their very best for this special event,
and the delight was contagious;
delight in a beautiful green grassy field,
delight in balls and friends to play with
and prizes to win.


Can you just feel the excitement?


Amy helped to lead games out in the blazing sun.
Elise was one of the game leaders too,

but she was happy when the games were done 
and she could go back to taking photos, her favorite pastime!

The games were perfect for all ages,

even for these tiny ones.
The children were supposed to be six years old to join the party, but we're pretty sure that the moms at the gate were stretching the age thing a bit, wanting their little ones to be in on the goodness.


The afternoon was so hot, that kids were sitting in the shadow of adults just to get some relief from the heat.
This tree was a haven for a group of very hot children.

After the games there were a couple of very effective drama presentations done by high school students,
and a gospel presentation in Visayan.

I love this photo -
the girl in the blue dress reminds me of the four men who brought their friend through the roof to see Jesus - she was lifting her little friend, so she could see above the crowd.
Sweetness.

What a beautiful thing...children's heads bowed in prayer.

What does life hold for these precious little ones?  

May the good news of Christ take root in their hearts,
giving them hope, giving them life.

Then it was time to eat.
A local church had labored long
to fill containers with nutritious food.

Here's one for you, Mrs. A.!  Raisa, in the middle of all the action!
She was so tickled when I told her I'd send you the link to the photo.  
She loves and misses you!

Full tummies, happy faces.
Life doesn't get much better than this.

Unless you are also a winner of one of the many raffle prizes
donated by local business people!
won a raffle prize.  Boy, was she happy!!

All too soon it was over,
and they started the walk
or the trike ride home again.

What a joy and a privilege to be here -
to have relationships with some of these children,
to share with them just a little from the abundance we take for granted.

May the Christ of Christmas be made real to each one of them...
and to each one of us!
More real than the goodness of games and food and prizes.
For only in Him is true goodness found.



2 comments:

Rosalie said...

Love it!

us5 said...

wish you could have joined us, Rosalie! ♥