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Philippines 2012 Christmas Outreach
By CLAIRE MITHELL, Global Impact Outreach Team Coordinator
Christmas in Davao City this year was spectacular. Apart from our usual Christmas parties with our Breakfast Club kids and the tribal village in Astorga, we also tried a couple of new concepts.
The first was something we called 'The Ultimate Kids Christmas Adventure' where we took a selection of 20 kids from Breakfast Club on a field trip to three special locations around Davao City for the day.
The purpose was to give these children from disadvantaged homes an experience that would birth dreams in their hearts and help them feel the love of God.
The smiles on the children's faces said it all as they got to experience things for the very first time!
Checking off her "treasure list" during the "Ultimate Christmas Adventure"
The children looking over Davao City during their "Ultimate Christmas Adventure"
At the same time we took seven of the children's mothers (including those from different faiths) and pampered them. They each chose a new outfit from the mall, then we did their hair and make-up. One mother told us she had not had make-up on since her wedding day 19 years ago. Another mother (who stays at home all day caring for her son with Downs Syndrome) said she felt like a movie star for the day!
The moms show off their new outfits after a day of being pampered!
We ended the day with the children and the mothers meeting up at a fancy mall and enjoying dinner and presents together. One mother told us that her daughter now sleeps with the backpack that we gave her because it is so precious to her. It was a very special day of showering God's love on them, and one that stayed in our hearts for weeks afterward.
The other new concept was making Christmas gift packs to give to the victims of Typhoon Pablo/Bopha. We packaged together 40 boxes of things we thought a family who had lost everything could use to bring back the sounds, tastes, and joys of Christmas.
Em-Em delivering a Christmas gift pack to one of the families affected by the Typhoon.
Juvy blessing a family whose home was destroyed in the typhoon with a Christmas gift pack.
The weekend before Christmas, we had the opportunity to travel the 8 hours to the typhoon affected area and bless 40 families from a local church with the gift boxes! Hearing the special Christmas hooters being blown as we were leaving made it all worthwhile.
The congregation of Faith Tabernacle Church after receiving their Christmas gift packs.
Thank you for your generous giving this past Christmas!
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