December 24, 2011
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Finding the Perfect Present
Cold weather for a week–I am still getting used to it.
Amazing food and eating out more than I have all year–tummy still growing.
Friends and family and meetings and sharing about Brazil–never gets old.
I returned to cold Indiana last week, and the time has been amazing. People are so full of the holiday season and sharing and caring and loving…it is wonderful. It is Christmas eve and I am finally unpacked enough to find my christmas gifts and start wrapping them to put under the tree.
But I wanted to stop a minute and let you know about a really neat opportunity.
There are so many people who already have everything–that you just don’t know what to get them for Christmas. (For me, this is every male I know…I always just end up giving them food. You can’t go wrong with food.)
I know this is a recession, and many people are working so hard just for a basics. But coming fresh from Brazil, the stark differences are still in the forefront of my mind. Stop for a minute and look around you–we have a lot. The children I know in Brazil have nothing. It is hard to describe “nothing” when you haven’t seen it for yourself.
Living Stones is a program I believe in–working with the poorest children in Brazil, giving them food and opportunities for a better life–most of all, in knowing Jesus Christ. So many people gave to the $5 for 5 campaign, giving $5 to give five children a hot meal. And because of that, the program has been able to finish the year out strong with food for everyone.
But Christmas is about more…Life more abundantly. About the extravagant, overabundance of a God who not only made us, but called us back to Himself after we left. Who came to earth, limiting everything about Himself. We don’t give Christmas presents in America because the person needs it, but because we are filled with the desire to share all the good things we have been given–to show the person that we value them, that we see how special they are, and celebrate it.
I propose doing both at once: giving to our loved ones who are near to us, while showing and loving special children in Brazil. Through the $10 for Them campaign, that is what you can do.
$10 for Them (www.wribrazil.com/10forthem) is donating $10 to buy a Christmas or Birthday present for an impoverished child in Northeast Brazil. On the webpage, you can click and print out a certificate to give to a loved one, letting them know that for their Christmas present–they gave a Christmas present to a child who otherwise would not have received one. If you have more questions, please contact me at amobrazil99@hotmail.com.
I believe that for every person who has a need to receive, there is a person who has a need to give. The need to give is a real as to receive, it is just often forgotten. Connecting the givers and receivers, and realizing that each person has both needs, is a huge part of the holiday season.
May you truly learn how to give and how to receive this Christmas,
Rachel
