Christmas in Mexico – 2020

“There are more children here than we thought would come,” the pastor and his wife shared with me as children were decorating sugar cookies with frosting and sprinkles. My stomach sank. What if we don’t have enough gifts? What if a child goes home without a present. Dan Williams, Director of Rio Al Mar Missions, turns and says to me, “It’s going to be a loaves and fishes moment.” Would it be? Would the shoeboxes donated by so many people from Canyon Springs be enough? Would each child receive a box, or would they have to share, or would someone go home empty-handed? All we could do was wait and see. As the children filed in one by one, the youngest ones first, we began to hand out presents. The children sat in chairs with their beautifully decorated shoeboxes on their lap. One by one, they came, and one by one, each child received a gift. Each one received a gift. No one went home, empty-handed. No one had to share a box. It was indeed a loaves and fishes moment with ten boxes left over.

 

There were also moments of joy. I had one very young mom ask if I had a present for her infant (we typically only do children two years of age and older). One of the leftover presents was for a 2-year old, and I gave this mom a gift for her child, and I gave this young mom (most likely just out of her teens) a leftover shoebox for an older girl. She said, “For me??” I said, “Yes, for you!” Her face lit up, and a huge hug came my way.

Another mom with three little ones shyly came up to me and asked, “Are there any soccer balls left?” Thanks to several people’s generosity, we had added a soccer ball to each of the teen boys’ gifts. Her oldest boy was under 10. I knew we had given all those soccer balls away, but then I remembered a couple of gifts that were donated late and weren’t wrapped and set aside as church donations. I went and looked in the boxes, and there was a soccer ball. I gave it to the mom, who quickly showed her son, and they both broke out into huge smiles. It was pure joy.

I love our church. You always show up with generous hearts, donating over 100 shoebox gifts for these precious children of Tijuana. You reflect the image of God that I saw that Saturday. Our God showed up. Bringing children from several different communities and providing EACH ONE a special gift just for them. God knew how many children would be there, He knew their ages, and I believe He knew which gift belonged to which child. We got to be His shoppers, His gift-wrappers, His package delivery agents, and His audience to this beautiful Christmas moment.

Merry Christmas!

Jilane