I Can’t Give Maria a Doll For Christmas!

We gave Maria a Doll but she NEEDS some Shoes for her feet

In my last article I told you about our desire to give a doll to Maria and  toys to 2499 other needy children here in Chiapas during this Christmas season.

I repent.

I can’t in good conscious give Maria a doll for Christmas.

We gave Maria a Doll but she NEEDS some Shoes for her feet

We gave Maria a Doll but she NEEDS some Shoes for her feet

You see, I just got back from a trip to some of the Indian communities. I noticed something that has always caught my attention but really stuck out to me this time.

Many children don’t have shoes.

Since it’s cold, rainy and muddy in many of these Indian villages this really impacted me.

In my last newsletter I wrote ““Your Gift Will Put a Doll in Maria’s Arms and a Smile on 2499 More Hopeful Children’s Faces this Christmas”.

How can we put a doll in Maria’s hands when she really needs shoes on her feet?

Many Indian families have several children and simply cant afford to purchase shoes for all of them.

When I asked the Indian leaders what they thought of the idea of purchasing shoes instead of giving toys to these needy children they smiled at me and said yes, this is definitely what our families need for Christmas.

Because the Children need shoes we wont be giving out toys this Christmas. (unless we have finances left over after purchasing 2500 shoes)

This week I’ll be ordering some inexpensive shoes for the Tzotzil and Tzeltal Indian children.

We’ll be giving out shoes to children from ages 1-14.

Help Us Put Shoes on Needy Children's Feet

Help Us Put Shoes on Needy Children's Feet

Christmas Smiles in Chiapas

We’ve already programmed our Christmas special presentation. Each special day will include Shoes, perhaps a small toy if we have the finances, piñatas, candy, puppets and a special Christmas message. Each day we’ll gather together at least 5 churches in each location,

Here’s our Christmas schedule so far. We’ll add more communities to this list as finances permit:

December 15th- New Church dedication in Tzonjok, Cancuc followed by our first Christmas Presentation with the Tzeltal Indian. We’ll minster to well over 500 children this day since there are a lot of Tzotzil Indian tribes in this community.

December 16th- Pocoinichim. 2 large churches (including Takiukum)will meet here along with 3 smaller mission churches.

December 19th- Acteal. 11 years ago there was a great massacre in this town. We’ll be bringing a message of New life, hope and love to this community. The Zapatista town of Polum is 30 minutes away. Our church of over 250 people will be walking from Polum to Acteal to participate in this event along with 4 other churches.

December 21- Cholchihutal- This is a remote region of Chiapas. Several missions churches will meet with us this day. Pray for good weather since these Tzotziles will have to walk a long time to get to our central meeting place.

December 24- We’ll be spending Christmas Eve in the central Church of the Tzotziles in Chenahlo, Chiapas. In addition to bringing in Churches from las Limas, we’d like to do an evangelistic effort this day to reach out to the community by having each family invite a family to celebrate with us.

Christmas Day, December 25- Tzalhachin. Some of our largest and poorest Churches (Tzenembolom, Cruzton) will meet together for a day of Celebrating the Birth Of Jesus. How will you be spending Christmas? Come visit us.

Will You Help us put shoes on Maria’s feet?

We still don’t have all the finances needed to provide shoes for all the children which we expect to exceed 2500. We made these plans trusting in God to touch your heart to help provide shoes for these needy children during Chirstmas.

We’ll be working hard and traveling long distances to help provide shoes for these childrne’s feet and smiles on the faces of all the Indians we’re ministering to during Chirsitmas.

Will you help us help the children?

Make a tax deductible donation here. (Please specify that you want to make a donation for “Christmas Gifts in Chiapas”)  We could really use the donations before December 7th.

We appreciate you!

Christmas Gifts in Chiapas, Mexico

“Your Gift Will Put a Doll in Maria’s Arms and a Smile on 2499 More Hopeful Children’s Faces this Christmas”DSC_0727

We are nearing the Christmas season. What will you be getting for Christmas this year? Many Indian Children in Chiapas don’t know.  They’re really hoping for something, but not expecting to receive anything for Christmas.

Last year, thanks to you, we were able to give out 2100 gifts to some very poor children. That is HUGE and we never planned on doing such a big project because it was our first time to do so.

This ministry turned out to be a real blessing to many needy children last year in addition to encouraging 27 Indian Pastors and countless parents who really needed a little bit of Christmas cheer themselves.

Last year many children got a present for the first time in their lives and most of them had never got to even break a pinata.

One little girl’s maturity and courage was really inspiring.

One rainy day little Maria, who I calculated to be approximately 6 years old, was intently viewing the dolls that we gave out. It was obvious that she desperately wanted one.  However when we asked her to choose between the doll and the umbrella she surprised us by valiantly picking the umbrella. You see, she wanted the doll but she (and her mother) needed the umbrella. We gave her the umbrella and a few other little goodies and she quietly went back to her seat.

She very politely looked at her friends dolls… never saying a word. But as I gazed at her my heart also went out to her. “What a mature little girl”, I thought.

Our gifts were numbered since we had plans to give them out to so many needy children.

Without drawing too much attention I picked up a small doll and edged over to little Maria. As I handed her the gift her face lighted up. .

The expression of joy on her face was worth it all.

Although I was tired from all the travel I also felt blessed to be a part of little Maria’s excitement. She never expected to get the doll. This is just one of the many children we ministered too who are just like her.

Share the Christmas Smiles and Excitement

You may not be able to be here in Mexico but you can be a part of the excitement. Last year’s Children’s Christmas ministry put a smile on the face of a lot of great kids just like Maria.

This year we’ve discovered more tribes and isolated communities that are really poor and have NEVER had a Christmas present in their entire lives. It would be great to give even more gifts than we did last year.

Can we give Maria another doll and minister to 2499 more kids during Christmas 2009?

You tell me.

If we spent $10 per child we’d need $25,000.
Earlier, I asked you what you are getting for Christmas. Now I’d like to ask you what you are willing to give to help out a child who may not receive anything without your financial contribution

This money doesn’t go to me. This is a lot of work for us, but it’s worth it.

“I’m asking you to give the best tax deductible donation you can today.
I know times have been tough for some over the past year.  But that’s all the more
reason to prove to God and yourself that you’re a giver who truly cares about
the hurting.

God gave His best (His own Son) as your Christmas gift.  What can you do?

Can you give $20, $100, $500, $1,000, or even $10,000?”

We’d like to raise funds for this project by December 1st. You can make a tax deductible donation here. (Please specify that you want to make donation for “Christmas Gifts in Chiapas”

This content is from our November 2009 Newsletter.

Download it in pdf format: November 2009 Newsletter (127)

Thanks and God Bless

I’ve updated this article here: I Can’t Give Maria a Doll For Christmas!