Haiti (MNN) — It’s the week before Christmas, and all through the West, last-minute shoppers are scrambling.
They’re searching for presents to give to those with plenty. Meanwhile, parents search daily for food and clothing in Haiti.
“They live day by day… the kids never get a toy to play with because that’s luxury for them,” For Haiti With Love’s Roseline DeHart says.
Christmas present distribution in 2015.
(Photo courtesy of For Haiti with Love)
For Haiti With Love’s annual Christmas party is the highlight of the year in northern Haiti.
“We have the Christmas party on December 25 for about 250 kids. We tell them about the birth of Jesus because some of them have never heard it before,” DeHart says.
“[Afterward,] we feed them; we also give them a backpack full of toys – something they want instead of something they need.”
The food and presents are good, but the Gospel – told through the story of Christ’s birth – is even better.
“We explain it to them (the kids), and then they go home, they tell their parents, so it keeps continuing,” DeHart says.
Help from the Body of Christ makes this work possible. Everything’s in place for this year’s Christmas outreach, “But we can start [working] on next Christmas,” DeHart says.
“They can help us spread the Gospel of Jesus, of the birth of Jesus, to kids that never heard it before.”
Pray hearts and lives will change as Haitians learn about Jesus for the first time. Pray for wisdom as For Haiti staff begin planning next year’s outreach.
“Each year we go to a different part of Cap Haitiёn so the Gospel can be spread out.”
In the header image, Christmas lights set the mood in tropical Haiti. (Photo courtesy of For Haiti With Love)
