Christmas Day: Many of you read Donna's story about Christmas at IAA. Lots of food, fun, and gifts for each child. Here's a cute story shared by April, our intern missionary from the Missions Society:
"When I had gone out and was talking to the boys on Christmas, all of a sudden, Joseph asked me if I had gotten anything for Christmas. I told him that I had not, but had gotten the cards from the girls and gifts at home. Well, he got up and said he was going to get me a gift. I, of course, thought he was just being silly, but he came back and had the bag that his gift had come in, in his hand. He handed it to me and inside, was some candy and a necklace made of seashells. I asked him where he got it and he told me he had bought it on a school trip he had taken to the beach in Mombasa. I asked if he was sure he wanted to give it to me, and his reply was something along the lines of, "Why in the world would I have brought it to you if I didn't want to give it to you?" Then he said we were equal because we had both gotten gifts. It was such a sweet gesture... and from a 14 year old boy. What a special Christmas gift!"
Christmas Play: The IAA children presented the Christmas play before 500 families in the Internally Displaced Camp. After the play, Christine took the children to a small bamboo shack to meet Josephine, one of the residents. Josephine is a mother of six that has suffered deep emotional and physical pain. She lost some of her fingers and toes due to a disease and her body is scarred from severe burns. She is also unable to cook food and cannot get out of bed on her own, so she has to depend on others. Her two older children do not come to visit her and her husband abandoned her for another woman because he couldn't tolerate her sickness. Christine wrote,
"I cannot imagine that some people have so much problems and then still thank GOD. Our children were able to see the conditions at which some people live. They did not want to go to their choos (bathrooms). I told them not to take anything that the Lord has given them for granted. Caren was almost moved to tears when looking at this woman when she was asking God to bless our children, thanking God for their lives. You can imagine in her distressed situation, asking God to help others and forgetting her inner feeling that she needs help from God more than anybody else in this world. When I visited the camp we became friends."
Christmas Play Costumes: What a blessing it was for our children to present our play and bless many others. Our new costumes were a big hit and we want to thank our special donors who contributed towards them. The children presented the play during their praise and worship, in the IAA Children's church, and then at the IDP camp. We want to add to our costumes every year to make it an annual blessing event for others to hear the story of Jesus.
LeTourneau University Team: A group from this university was at IAA this Christmas. They were a blessing to both our children and staff. Here is a group picture of them:
