GIVING AS AN ACT OF WORSHIP

Watch the video above to hear directly from Fabiola and her father about the incredible impact of a new bike!

My two colleagues and I recently had the opportunity to visit all our partners in East Africa. The main focus was to audit the financial books of each ministry, witness the Christmas giving, and take lots of pictures and videos. We also had numerous meetings and great fellowship with the children and the staff. Every year, I get excited to see the children smile when they receive their Christmas gifts. I don’t think that will ever get old, and I always look forward to such precious moments.

Hebrews 13:16 says, “Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.” Even our giving to others is viewed as a sacrifice of worship to God.

At the end of every year, each sponsor has an opportunity to participate in Christmas giving. The sponsors love the experience of giving. They enjoy picking just the right gift that they know the child needs. The Christmas gifts are mainly basic needs like food, clothing, and mattresses, but some have even received mechanical tools, sewing machines, and welding machines to start their businesses as they end their time in the sponsorship program. At the end of each year, we reach out to sponsors to give their gifts in December, and then we transfer the funds in January to our partners, where they purchase the gifts locally. The process of purchasing the gifts might take a while since some of the gifts are custom-made. When all that is done, they have a gathering at each partnership where they celebrate Christmas with some food and drinks, play games, and have lots of fun. They sometimes bring in someone to entertain. This year, Spiderman made an appearance in Rwanda!

By the grace of God through a generous donor, every child who requested a mattress as a Christmas gift got one this year. The partners expressed that they have never received so many mattresses before. One of the children who got a mattress was so thrilled about it. His guardian mentioned to us the next day that he could not believe it belonged to him. He kept waking up in the middle of the night several times in disbelief. For years he has been sharing a mattress with his guardian and siblings. It’s amazing how a small gift can go a long way and put precious smiles on beautiful faces.



Schools are often quite a distance from where the kids live with their guardians or parents, and transportation or traveling to school and back home has always been a challenge for some of the children. The best option is for them to own a bicycle to help them ease the long-distance walk to school and back home right on time. A good number of kids received bicycles they will use to travel to school and sometimes help run errands at home.

We have witnessed the great impact of Christmas gifts in East Africa. We make sure that every gift purchased for a child reaches that child fully. They are always excited to write thank you notes to their sponsors for the gifts they received and explain some of the impacts of those gifts in their lives. It’s our desire as Lahash to continue advocating for these children through the sponsorship program and Christmas giving. I encourage sponsors to keep giving because, for sure, it goes a long way, and most importantly, it’s a sign of worship to God.