Christmas. Whether or not\u00a0the world wants to embrace its true\u00a0meaning, it is a season to celebrate\u00a0the birth of Jesus Christ and the gifts\u00a0he brings: life, hope, healing and\u00a0restoration. Some people celebrate\u00a0by exchanging gifts with loved ones.\u00a0Others attend a candlelight church\u00a0service, in which the nativity story\u00a0is presented through songs, skitsand sermons. Still others serve their\u00a0communities by volunteering at\u00a0soup kitchens or spending time at a\u00a0children\u2019s home.<\/p>\n
People to People Ministries<\/a>, the\u00a0humanitarian arm of the IPHC,\u00a0celebrates Christmas a little\u00a0differently. We have the opportunity\u00a0to share Christmas with more than\u00a06,000 children worldwide throughthe annual Christmas Spirit project, and we\u00a0would love for you to join us this year!<\/p>\n Many indigenous cultures do not\u00a0celebrate Christmas, and some have yet to\u00a0hear the gospel. In 2007, People to People\u00a0led the first Christmas Spirit missions\u00a0team to the Central American nation of\u00a0Panama, where we brought Christmas to\u00a0the Guaym\u00ed people.<\/p>\n The Guaym\u00ed largely keep to themselves\u00a0and only recently began to\u00a0integrate with other cultures.\u00a0Only a small percentage of\u00a0Guaym\u00ed people choose to adopt<\/p>\n other cultures, with the majority\u00a0clinging to their indigenous\u00a0heritage.\u00a0Mestizo missionaries first\u00a0contacted this group in the 17th\u00a0century, but they are still largely\u00a0unreached today. The average life\u00a0expectancy in Panama is 70; among\u00a0the Guaym\u00ed, lack of medical care\u00a0cuts life expectancy to 50.\u00a0According to\u00a0Operation World<\/a>,\u00a0evangelical Christians make up 20\u00a0percent of Panama\u2019s population.\u00a0However, the\u00a0Joshua Project<\/a>\u00a0found\u00a0that only 4 percent of the Guaym\u00ed people are evangelical Christians.\u00a0They desperately need the healing\u00a0and saving power of Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n Because the Guaym\u00ed live in\u00a0remote areas, a trip to visit them\u00a0is not easy. The People to People\u00a0missions team had to drive over\u00a0extremely rough, unpaved roads.\u00a0One portion of the trip required\u00a0a drive up a steep mountain path,\u00a0while team members sat in the\u00a0bed of an old metal truck with no\u00a0seat belts.<\/p>\n At one point, the truck broke down\u00a0and the team walked the rest of the way.\u00a0In the midst of this, some team members\u00a0questioned whether the trip was even worth\u00a0all the trouble.<\/p>\n They soon discovered all the difficulty\u00a0was worthwhile. As team members reached\u00a0the village, children ran out to greet them.Even with a language barrier, the joy on\u00a0their faces was unmistakable. Then, the\u00a0team began to hand out something most\u00a0of the children had never even seen before:\u00a0crayons.\u00a0\u201cWe had to show [the children] how to\u00a0use them,\u201d said People to People Director\u00a0Matt Bennett. Even the adult villagers\u00a0wanted to join in the experience! A simple\u00a0toy\u2013\u2013one that is quickly discarded in theUnited States when it becomes too dull\u2013\u2013\u00a0opened the door for the team to connect\u00a0with this indigenous group.<\/p>\n After presenting the crayons, the\u00a0team began to share the gospel and the\u00a0Christmas story through songs and skits.\u00a0They also set up a projector to show\u00a0VeggieTales<\/em>\u00a0in Spanish and took photos with\u00a0the children.<\/p>\n The adults marveled at both of these\u00a0technological items. Many had never seen\u00a0photos of their children before and they\u00a0kept asking to see the camera.<\/p>\n The celebration concluded in traditional\u00a0American style\u2013\u2013with ice cream, cake and\u00a0Christmas gifts. The villagers had never\u00a0eaten ice cream before!<\/p>\n Handing out gifts\u00a0was one of the most touching\u00a0experiences for team members.\u00a0Because the Guaym\u00ed do not\u00a0celebrate Christmas or birthdays,\u00a0the children had never received\u00a0gifts before. Team members had to\u00a0explain repeatedly that the toys were\u00a0theirs to keep and that nothing was\u00a0required in return.<\/p>\n There was one especially stirring\u00a0moment that day. A little girl, about\u00a07 years old, suffered from a severe\u00a0form of spina bifida. She\u2019d spent her\u00a0life lying in a hammock, causing\u00a0extreme curvature in her back.\u00a0The missions team gave the girl\u2019s\u00a0family a brand-new, off-road stroller.\u00a0The mother was so overwhelmed\u00a0by the team\u2019s generosity that she\u00a0began to cry when she saw the gift.\u00a0She explained that now she would\u00a0be able to take her daughter with\u00a0her when she worked in the fields.\u00a0It is amazing that such a simple\u00a0gift\u2013\u2013a basic necessity by American standards\u2013\u2013can make such a\u00a0difference for someone in need.<\/p>\n Since that trip, the work in\u00a0central Panama has grown to be\u00a0the third-largest People to People\u00a0project in Latin America. God is\u00a0using leaders like Lirys Alvarado,\u00a0PTP\u2019s national facilitator in Panama,\u00a0to continue reaching the Guaym\u00ed.<\/p>\n It\u2019s Not About the Gifts<\/strong><\/p>\n Some may wonder why we give toys\u00a0when so many children in the world are\u00a0suffering from poverty and malnourishment.\u00a0While feeding programs are important, it\u2019salso necessary to nurture the soul. PTP is not just\u00a0giving toys to children; we are using Christmas gifts\u00a0as an avenue into peoples\u2019 lives so that we can share\u00a0the eternal gift of Christ\u2019s salvation with them.\u00a0The Bible says it is more blessed to give than to\u00a0receive, and People to People team members affirm\u00a0this. Team member Jewel Nichols said that giving\u00a0the Guaym\u00ed children gifts \u201cgave them a sense of\u00a0being and joy and knowing they are loved as much\u00a0as anyone else in the world.\u201d Nichols, who lives in\u00a0Greensboro, N.C., said the trip was life changing.<\/p>\n \u201cIt really showed me how we truly need to be\u00a0the feet of Christ by going, and be the hands of\u00a0Christ, touching these children\u2019s lives physically and\u00a0spiritually,\u201d she told\u00a0Experience<\/em>.<\/p>\n Mayra Mu\u00f1oz, who participated in People to\u00a0People\u2019s 2007 outreach to the Guaym\u00ed people in\u00a0Panama, said words could not describe the joy she\u00a0felt when she finally arrived in their isolated village.<\/p>\n \u201cI struggled to communicate, since most of\u00a0them spoke [only] the Guaym\u00ed language, and in my\u00a0effort to learn how to say a few phrases, they just\u00a0laughed,\u201d she says. \u201cHowever, what a comfort it is\u00a0to know that God\u2019s love made itself evident in our\u00a0midst; his language of love was spoken over and\u00a0over again.\u201d Mu\u00f1oz added: \u201cWhat an incredible experience\u00a0it was to speak the language of God\u2019s love, a\u00a0language that has no barriers, needs no words\u2013\u2013it\u00a0simply takes an action of kindness to penetrate the\u00a0hearts of people.\u201d<\/p>\n As we approach the Christmas season, we can\u00a0easily get caught up in the hustle and bustle of\u00a0holiday activities. As you plan your own festivities,\u00a0please make giving to the unreached a part of your\u00a0Christmas celebration. Celebrate God\u2019s greatest gift\u00a0to mankind by putting a gift in the hands of a child\u00a0who needs to learn the true meaning of Christmas.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This holiday season, share your blessings with others and discover the joy of giving. Christmas. Whether or not\u00a0the world wants to embrace its true\u00a0meaning, it is a season to celebrate\u00a0the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":150,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[25,26,43],"class_list":{"0":"post-39","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-general","8":"tag-christmas","9":"tag-christmas-spirti","10":"tag-panama","11":"entry"},"title_es":"","content_es":"","author_name":"","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/ptp\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2011\/11\/boywithchristmasgift.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/ptp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/ptp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/ptp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/ptp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/ptp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/ptp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/ptp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/150"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/ptp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/ptp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/ptp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}