Christmas gifts for the orphans, Part 2

Just as promised, here are pictures of "delivery day" - the day we delivered Christmas gifts to the orphanage. I really want to express, once again, my gratefulness to those who gave to this project. I know it was a very costly undertaking and also very time-consuming. However, I do believe it was a very huge investment in these childrens' lives. There is no way we ourselves would have been able to buy something nice for all 42 children in the orphanage for Christmas. However, you who gave made it possible for us to share the love of Christ in a special way that children understand... through gifts.

Some of the things that were sent were things the kids had never seen. Many of us spent extra time with the orphans, explaining to them how to use some of the things they received in their bags. One thing that caused David and I to really laugh about was the dental floss that one of the teen girls received. She opened the small box and noticed the minty smell, so assumed it was chewing gum. After she chewed on it for awhile, some of the other girls noticed her and asked us if she was using it correctly. We explained to her what it was really for and had a good time realizing how "simple" these kids really are.

One advantage to treating the orphans exceptioinally well is that we are winning over the heart of the orphanage director, Elena. David mentioned that he would like for the children to be in church on Sunday for our "Christmas Sunday," and she responded matter-of-factly that she would have ALL of them ready. Normally, for lack of vehicles, we are only able to pick up two car-loads of children each Sunday. This past Sunday, though, we had to find a BUS to pick up all of the kids. Then, we had to have a "game plan" so as to keep our church services orderly since we had as many children in church as we had adults (once you counted in our regular-attending children as well)! We asked our church people to each sit between two or three children, and the services went GREAT! An unexpected advantage to bringing all of the orphans to church is that their social workers have to be with them on outings. So, we had one of their workers in church for the first time, and he received the Gospel and a free Bible for being a first-time guest! To God be the glory for the way He is working in "our" orphanage!

My sweet hubby David, loving on one of the orphan boysMissionary kids (Sloans and Hesses) dressed up and excited about giving... and receiving the "gift of giving"Teen orphan boys... a rough bunch that I am very burdened for I love this picture! He is checking out the contents and deciding what to pull out of this big bag first!

The "winning" gift!

Hot Wheels!

"Christmas in the orphanage" was a fun, unforgettable day. In my next post I will be sharing with you how our family spent Christmas Day here on the mission field...

And, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to each of you, my faithful readers!