Dear Friends,

Each year for Christmas, I give my family’s “gifts” to a ministry that would be of interest to each one. There are 26 of us, and when we get together, I tell them where their gift went, and give them some literature about that project and ministry.

This year, the gifts for the married men (6 plus my husband who lives in heaven) were sent to PPF for the well project. I said I knew how they would feel if they couldn’t even provide safe water for their families, then each one (all 24 who were there) received a bottle of water with a tag attached.

The tag read, “‘And whosoever shall give a drink unto one of these little ones, a cup of cold water only, in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward.” (Matthew 10:42) Together, in the name of Jesus, we have provided water for life to a family of 7 for $210. What an investment!”

I choose gifts that match interests. For example, a nurse provided medical supplies for a clinic, and a granddaughter who is allergic to mosquito bites, provided bed nets for a family in Africa. A three-year-old boy sent 2 soccer balls to a school in South America. Then each one is encouraged to pray that their gift will be a blessing and used to the Glory of God.

The family loves it, and the other gifts under the tree are from the dollar store, or little freebies or silly things I have collected during the year. Each year I pray that the Lord will help me choose wisely, and that everyone will be pleased. Praise God, we have a wonderful time, and no one ever feels slighted.

Just thought you might be interested in knowing you had a part in our Christmas celebration.

Sincerely in Christ,

D. H. (Helenville, WI)

Dear PPF,

It’s amazing the way God works things out in His own way and time. We are able to look back on the sequence of events and see that His hand and His perfect timing were involved even while we could not see it. Christmas this year was a wonderful example of this for my husband and me.

First of all, in October, my brother deployed to Afghanistan with the Air Force and has been telling my family stories of all the need there is among the Afghan people. The faces and stories of those who have less than I do has been at the forefront of my mind for the first time in my extremely comfortable American life. When you realize that “the poor” really do have names, faces, families, feelings, and souls, it’s amazing how much more they start to matter to you.

God has, for the past few years, placed a burden on our hearts (my husband’s and mine) to somehow teach our children to celebrate Christmas differently than everyone else does. The problem was that I thought this meant we just needed to spend less and that simply spending less would teach our kids that Jesus is the “reason for the season”.

This year, God led a Sunday School teacher at our church to choose the “Advent Conspiracy” curriculum (www.adventconspiracy.org) to be a short term adult class as a filler for the few weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas. My husband and I missed the first two classes due to our family’s vacation, and our Advent Conspiracy book lay next to our bed unopened and unread.

When we got home from our vacation, while I was sorting through our huge stack of mail, I opened a letter from the Persecution Project Foundation, explaining the 100 Wells Campaign and offering the t-shirts and bracelets for donations to the campaign. I immediately thought, “That’s a great idea; I should order one of each for myself.” I put the letter in a pile to deal with later, and went on with life.

The following Sunday, we attended our first Advent Conspiracy Sunday School class entitled “Give More”, and I came home in tears. It was about giving more valuable things to those who mean so much to us; giving things like time, homemade or handmade gifts, or contributions to a cause that would mean something to that special person, instead of spending to excess on things those special people don’t really need. The emphasis of the segment was on getting away from the consumerism that permeates all of American society, especially at Christmas. I realized this was the answer I had been looking for. I told my husband, who never looks at the mail, about the letter we had received from Persecution Project, and asked him what he thought about the shirts and about the idea of doing Christmas differently this year. He asked me to give him the day to think about it. He watched video clips on the Persecution Project’s website, and at the end of the day, he told me he believed we should order a shirt for everyone in his family. Imagine my surprise when, the next day, I read the whole Advent Conspiracy book, and learned that the cause on the authors’ hearts and that they advocate giving our “excess” money to a named NGO that digs fresh water wells for areas in the world without access to it! I couldn’t believe it. We picked a cause and an organization we believe in because we know it and trust it (Persecution Project Foundation), but what we picked is accomplishing the same purpose that the Advent Conspiracy authors have on their heart: to provide both physical and spiritual quenching of thirst.

The shirts arrived in time for Christmas (thank you!), and we prepared a short presentation to explain to the family why we were doing something so different and “weird” this year for Christmas. We aren’t sure anyone else will follow along and do Christmas differently with us next year, but we are taking the Advent Conspiracy message (which we believe is a very Biblical message) to heart and from now on we are going to “Spend less. Give More. Worship fully.” with our celebration of Christmas.

God saved the best part for our family, however, and the story does not end with the shirts presented to my husband’s family. Before we left our home for the family Christmas gathering on Christmas Day, my husband was explaining to our four year old what we were doing with the shirts. He explained that the money for the shirts was going to help the children in Sudan to have water to not only quench their physical thirst, but also to open the door for them to be told about Jesus who can quench their spiritual thirst and give them living water. My husband played some of the Persecution Project video clips about the 100 Wells Campaign, and explained to our four year old that providing water will let these kids know that Jesus loves them, came to die and rise again to save them from their sins and that anyone who loves Jesus with their whole heart can go to Heaven to be with him forever.

At this moment, without any prompting, our little boy looked at my husband and said, “Daddy I love Jesus with all my heart.” It brought us both to our knees in tears of joy and thanksgiving. It’s the first time he has verbalized his love for, and faith in, Jesus.

We originally thought that God was bringing this all together to use us to make an impact on our extended family, while we were doing something small to help bring water to Sudan. What we now see is that God brought this all together at the right time to allow the 100 Wells Campaign to have a profound impact on US. It brought understanding of the love of Jesus to our oldest child, and changed our Christmas morning into one of the most precious and worshipful experiences we have ever had. It was the best Christmas ever, and we can only imagine what God has in store for us as we “do Christmas differently” next year and from now on.

Thank you for being part of God’s plan for us. We are so glad God has blessed us to be able to contribute a small portion to the bigger work you are doing in His name.

I have included a picture of my husband’s family that they gave me permission to share. We were missing three members due to a last minute case of the flu, and Great-Grandma (who is 92 and received a 100 Wells Campaign bracelet) was not in the picture because she cannot stand for long. My husband and I are seated on the floor in front, and the three boys are ours. Caleb, our oldest, loves Jesus with all his heart!

Sincerely,
B.W. (Zanesville, OH)