Haiti (MNN) — Defrosting a 20-pound turkey may take from 5-7 days, and that is a long time to prepare for a Christmas dinner for most people. But each year, the staff of For Haiti with Love Inc. starts planning their Christmas dinner in August.
FHWL will hold a Christmas party for up to 1,000 people on the beleaguered Caribbean island.
Every Christmas since 1988, FWHL hosts the party in Northern Haiti. They invite children and their families–as many as they can feed with that year’s donated money and food.
FWHL co-founder Eva DeHart says, “It becomes the social event of Cap Haitien. It’s kind of neat that the outstanding party of the year for Cap Haitien is for poor children only.”
Besides the meal, each child who attends receives a present and hears the Gospel message.
It is a chance to get a lot of children together to celebrate Jesus’ birthday, DeHart says.
The kids eat a good meal. They often take part of it home and share with others. Each child gets a present that was donated as far back as August just for this occasion. They not only hear the Gospel, they get to see it in a movie. This year’s Christmas party includes a showing of the Haitian Creole language JESUS film.
While it is too late to donate materials needed for the party, FWHL is still seeking monetary donations to pay for shipping costs. DeHart also asks for prayers for good weather, for the notification of the party to go out to those who are most in need, and for open hearts that are ready to accept Jesus.