Kings' Day

This is a special time of year in this nation where we live. It was a little surprising for us when we first moved here to see that Christmas Day is almost a non-event here for most families. Christmas Eve is celebrated with a huge family dinner, and we are always invited to be 'family' with someone each year that we are in country. Christmas Day, however, normally is drastically different than it is in the U.S. It's not really a day of exchanging gifts and unwrapping presents. Here, in the month of January, we celebrate Kings' Day which is to commemorate the time when the wise men brought gifts to little Jesus. In most families, on Kings' Day children are given as many gifts as the parents can buy - just like in the U.S. Christmas is, and always has been, a favorite holiday of mine. Yet I find myself drawn more and more to honoring the day when gifts were brought to Jesus. I don't suppose it matters when one honors Him, just the heart behind it.

We were talking with a pastor in the US about this holiday and custom here, and a wonderful idea was presented. In December Americans bought each other gifts and had a wonderful time celebrating the birth of our Lord and Saviour. We would like to offer an opportunity to celebrate Kings' Day with us by purchasing one more gift, this one to give directly to Him. If everyone who has requested to receive our newsletter would 'gift' one square meter of roof for the orphanage home, we could have the roof on in about 60 days! Once the roof is completed the rest of the work can be done - and done fairly quickly. What a wonderful way to honor our Lord - get that building finished so we can begin to take in and care for these abandoned and orphaned babes.

If you can afford to do so, would you consider a special gift of $75 this month to celebrate with us this time of year when we remember the giving of gifts to the little child Jesus?