Haiti (MNN) – Since 1988, For Haiti with Love has been hosting a Christmas party for the poorest of the poor children in Haiti each year.
A Christmas Gathering
(Photo courtesy For Haiti With Love)
This Christmas is set to be no different with the ministry inviting 500 kids to join in on some holiday cheer. For Haiti’s Eva DeHart shares;
“The children will be ages five through fifteen this year. We stress the Gospel, we have the Jesus film for children in Haitian Creole now. Then they understand what For Haiti with Love is doing for their country in the way of feeding people and treating burns. And they get a full meal with rice and beans and candies and home baked cookies from the United States.”
Each kid is able to have two cookies each. Other food for the party includes chicken and even Gatorade. For Haiti with Love is careful to include foods which the children’s stomachs are accustomed too. Otherwise, their digestive systems can’t handle heavier foods, such as beef, and the kids will end up sick.
At the party, the kids also receive gifts such as hygiene products and school supplies and even toys. Though these gifts might not seem like much to some, they mean a lot to these kids who are growing up in one of the poorest countries in the world.
Reaching Kids
Cooking for the big celebration begins in the morning’s early hours, usually around 3 a.m. Kids generally begin arriving around 7 a.m., and every kid who walks through the door for the celebration is greeted with a beaded necklace placed around their necks.
However, each year there’s a specific donor of the name, Dr. Cooper, who usually donates three pallets of toys. Sadly, he has passed away, but, other donors have since picked up where he left off and have helped provide toys for these 500 children, who are each individually invited.
“Our staff and some of the people in the area that we know go out and seek the poorest of the poor children to give those invitations to,” DeHart explains. “We are highlighting children that are normally overlooked. So, it’s very rewarding on our part to watch the excitement and the enthusiasm of these children.”
(Photo courtesy FHWL) For Haiti with Love Christmas party.
The kids and their families get so excited for the Christmas party that often times the kids will come, wearing their absolute best or borrowing the best of a cousin’s.
However, For Haiti with Love’s annual Christmas party isn’t only to celebrate the holiday, but to share the story of Christ’s birth and the Gospel with them.
“They’re celebrating Jesus’ birthday and [the kids] know that that’s the whole purpose of the [party],” DeHart says.
Beyond the Party
And for those who don’t know, For Haiti with Love has four aspects to its ministry.
1. Proving nutritionally balanced meals to the hungry through its food program.
2. Providing formula for babies in need.
3. A construction program to help complete churches, schools, homes, and even marketplaces.
4. Emergency medical care for the poor, such as burn care.(For Haiti with Love is currently Haiti’s main burn center in the country.)
How to Help
(Photo Courtsey FHWL) For Haiti with Love Christmas dinner.
So if you would, will you come alongside this ministry and pray?
“You can be praying for a little girl by the name of Mael. She got severely burned on the back of her legs and they were not healing right and suddenly she’s finding herself in a position of not being able to walk,” DeHart shares.
“She’s an eight-year-old who Shriner’s has accepted her in Boston. So pray for the doctors and pray for her total healing.”
Pray also for the success of the Christmas party and for the kids to have receptive hearts when hearing the Gospel.
Want to join For Haiti with Love in bringing a Christmas celebration to Haiti’s poorest children? Click here to help!
