We spent our 1st Christmas in The Gambia in small village 45 minutes outside of the city. I can’t begin to tell you how blown away we were! Our team leader preached a tremendous word and invited, all who wanted to, to accept Christ. Many responded including many children. Praise the Lord!
After service we all ate a meal together and the children played football outside. We were only able to stay a few hours, but the church had activities planned for the children throughout the afternoon. Right before we left the pastors wife showed me a small closet. It was filled with gifts to bless the children. They had clothes, shoes, blankets and Christmas Shoe Boxes filled with toys (you know the ones)!!! Right in front of me they were sitting on a dusty floor, in a small church, in a village here in Africa.
Our family has packed so many of those boxes over the years in hopes of blessing a child somewhere in the world, and here they were. It was one of those full circle moments in life. As we were driving home, we all said the same thing … “We wished we could have stayed!” But the Holy Spirit gently reminded us that: It was better that we didn’t stay.
As much as we would have loved to have helped pass out those boxes, it was better that we didn’t. Because if we had, when the neighborhood children went home last night; they would have said, look what the Americans gave me. Instead, when those children went home last night they said, “Look what The Church gave me!”That’s what it’s all about! The Church! Not us, but The Bride of Christ in all its beauty, loving people and sharing the Good News. That’s what we got to see yesterday and it was a wonderful Christmas indeed!!!!
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