Once more we launched our yearly “Christmas Angel” campaign, bringing hope into the lives of some of the poor Christians and refugees here in Jordan. This “Christmas Angel” campaign reached 31 impoverished Christian families (Syrian, Iraqi, and Jordanian) to whom we gave a supermarket voucher, Christmas toys for the children, Christmas treats and gifts for the families. We also were able to donate over 100 toys to Christian Iraqi refugee families; these toys arrived just before Christmas Day.
One of the families (who were a big help to us in our distributions) also spent an unforgettable evening with Elisabeth at the Boulevard, an ultramodern street in Amman. This street is richly decorated for Christmas, which is a great contrast to the old part of the city where this family lives. There were beautiful Christmas carols being sung and they loved it. It was hard to tell if the mother or the four teen girls enjoyed the event the most!
Thanks to your generous gifts, we were able bring a little Christmas cheer to Christian Iraqi families, many of whom had fled their villages due to the danger of ISIS. As Iraqi refugees they are not allowed to work in Jordan, so their finances are quickly depleted. This is unlike the Syrians, who do get permission to work, albeit at a lower wage, or poor Jordanian Christians who get some help from the church. Sadly, many of the refugees face difficult medical problems since arriving here, and of course, there are other unexpected expenses besides the day-to-day surviving.
Along with food vouchers and gifts of children’s toys, each family also received chocolates, two chickens and other various food items (dried and canned goods). We also gave small gifts to the adults. We gave cash rather than vouchers to some families, either because there was not a nearby supermarket where they could use the vouchers or because the cash could be used to help toward medical needs.
The situations of some of these families were very dire, and yet they were full of praise and thanksgiving. The children were all so thankful and happy for their gifts and special treats.
Thanks to the aid and advice from different people, we were able to target the neediest of situations in different parts of the city. We did not have lots of funding, but we still tried to make a difference where most needed. Thank you so much for helping to make this happen with your help.