Ever since I was little, my family adopted children off the Angel Tree in the mall. It was always something I looked forward to. I try to adopt at least one family every year now that I’m an adult. Last year, I convinced an organization I am on the board of to adopt a local military family for the holidays.
This year, I have been inspired to reach beyond the boundaries of the United States to help families in Honduras. I came across the church in the included picture through a man I’ve been friends with for awhile. We met through a dance class but had never really talked about anything personal until last week.
We were having dinner after class last Tuesday and, in an effort to get to know one another better, were asking those infamous “icebreaker questions” like “if money wasn’t a concern, what would you do?”
He paused for a moment… like he was unsure what his answer was, but when he started talking, the passion shown through his eyes was captivating. His energy became contagious as he started talking about how he goes back home to his home in Honduras every Christmas bearing gifts for the children whose families can’t provide basic necessities like clothing and food, kind of like a modern day Santa Claus (my words not his). He started telling me about Father Matias and the ministries he is trying to provide for the many families who are in need in this community.
The Father has a passion for the children in his community. He has set up several soup kitchens through out the town to provide food for the children whose families cannot afford the provision of such a basic need. They completed construction on a small school (K-3rd grade respectively) in an attempt to provide education and lunch for these children. There have been times when there wasn’t enough food to open the soup kitchen or the school.
We live in a world where so much is easily available to us. Even if you’re low on funds, there are places like McDonalds with their dollar menu or local soup kitchens to get food. This Christmas, a group of friends and I have decided to be “Santa’s little helpers” and raise funds to buy clothes and food to send to these children.
We want to continue to support Father Matias’ efforts throughout the year (stay tuned), but to kick off our involvement, we have asked him to collect the names of 5-7 families who have a special need so that we can collect food, clothing, and maybe a toy or two for the children to help them celebrate Christmas without the usual stress.
That’s where you come in! Though we would love to be able to do this on our own, we are all theoretically “entry level” and don’t have the resources to pull this off on our own. So we are asking that you look around you and realize how much we have been blessed with and then imagine for a moment that all of your “comforts” – a roof that doesn’t leak, shoes with soles, a full pantry/refrigerator, etc. wasn’t there. Imagine having to tell you children that they had to share a potato for dinner because that was all you had.
Think of how much money you will spend on presents for family members who live with similar “comforts.” Some of whom you only see once a year.
Now think of the families we are asking you to help support… the families who don’t know where their next meal will come from; families who don’t have shoes or a solid roof above their head and ask yourself how much more even a small gift to such a family would mean. How much more your money could bless someone this Holiday Season.
We have received information on three families now. The first two are single moms. The third family lost their home and possessions in a fire recently.
If you would like to make a donation, please go to the link below:
http://www.youvegotfunds.com/profile.php?pid=219
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