Christmas Party 2006!

I wanted to write this last night but was just too exhausted! Thursday morning was bright and clear. When I got out to the front of the building at 6:30 am, the line was already so long that it wound around in the woods at the end of our road! Richard said people had arrived at 2 am to get in the line. Now that is ridiculous especially as cold as it is. Everyone was in high spirits. Various people came in and set up food stands and Lety and I (with the help of Tomas) started letting people in. We were very organized and had all the families checked in by 9:30 am. That's a new record!! Meanwhile our visiting team from Gateway Church in Dallas arrived and began the program for the children. It was a beautiful program. The children and families filled up our land and the music and Christmas story filled our hearts. The gospel message was presented in Spanish and Quiche and over 100 children accepted the Lord. We gave out at least 2000 bags with wonderful Christmas goodies. We are estimating that there were close to 4000 people here. I received so many hugs and smiles that I could hardly keep from crying. The joy of the children was so evident as they just beamed as they received their presents. The purpose of the party is to bless the children of our clinic families, not with just the gifts but with the message that Jesus came as a baby to save us from our sins so that we can live an abundant life.

We want to thank those who worked so hard to collect the gift bags and then to ship them to Guatemala. We are so grateful as we just have no way of providing this many children gifts without the help from our supporters. Here's a list of those who participated:
Gospel Outbound - NJ
Absecon UMC - NJ
Oakbrook Church - VA
Stan and Janet Elmore - MO
Casa de Oracion - MO
Gateway Church - TX