Would You Sponsor a
Pastor's Christmas Basket This Year?
:Christmas Project 2007
Food & gift baskets for 100 pastors and families
Team Guatemala’s goal this year is to provide 100 different pastor’s families in the Guatemala district of Suchitepequez with Christmas gift and food baskets, at a cost of $25 per basket. So the entire project for 100 families will cost $2,500.
We can raise money for the entire project or, for $25, individuals may choose to sponsor one specific pastor and his family. Sponsors will receive the name and hopefully a picture of the pastor, his family, and his church, so the sponsor can continue to pray for them. Sponsors may decide to continue with annual gift support. Wouldn’t that connection be wonderful?
Then, with the raised money and sponsorships in place, the Guatemala Team will head south in November. Team members will take the $2,500, go to the local market in Guatemala, and buy food and plastic tubs to create the Christmas gift and food baskets. We will bring extra gifts and cards to put in with the purchased items to make the baskets extra special. In this way, we can personalize the cards and information for specific pastors and their families and distribute the baskets during the Christmas season.
And remember that each team member is responsible for his or her own support for the trip, amounting to about $1,200 each for the November trip.
Why the Christmas gift and food baskets project?
We prayerfully decided on this project as we watched a number of events unfold.
We saw Pastor Diego in Pacquila with a family of seven children. He literally prayed in the food for his family. There was very little support from his church. He was ready to quit and give up … then God encouraged our team to take food and clothing to his family.
In response, he cut down his banana tree and gave it to us. It was all that he had, but he insisted that we take it. We took the tree and walked out of the village carrying this giant branch loaded with bananas and gave the bananas to some of the other churches.
Now, you need to understand, this tree only grows one bunch of bananas, then dies. The love God poured into his family through the Missions team encouraged them to stay and see people saved.
Then God spoke to the team to build his family a house with real concrete floors. They had always lived in a dirt floor shack. Can you imagine, raising 7 children in the rainy season with holes in your walls and ceilings, dirt floors with only a room for sitting and a room for everyone to sleep together on board beds?
So many of the Pastors and their families are living in remote villages with crude homes. They desperately need materials and Bibles for their churches.
Providing for these needs is a powerful demonstration of God’s love. Just think, God can use us here in Idaho to encourage people in Guatemala and provide some very special gifts and food for Christmas celebration.
What an incredible opportunity to minister to each of those pastors and their families!
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