Through the Eyes of a Child
"Are you excited for Christmas?" I asked a 9 year old Indonesian girl, named Ana, who was sitting next to me making a Christmas card for her friend. "Do you think you'll get a gift?"
"No" she replied. "My mom can't afford to buy me gifts. She works really long hours and can't afford to buy me anything. But that's okay. I'll play with my neighbors and that will be fun".
We continued to talk about Christmas and how Ana's dad was moving away simply to get a better job to help the family. It was for children like Ana that we had come.
The setting was the Salvation Army Center in the Tenderloin. The Salvation Army runs an after school tutoring program for over 60 children from the neighborhood and one of our BJM team does tutoring one on one with several children twice a week. The Tenderloin is largely known for homelessness and drugs, but there are also nearly 4,000 children living in this neighborhood. These children and their families represent a vast mosaic of the world; the 63 children in this program come from Yemen, India, Indonesia, Viet Nam, China, Philippines, Mongolia, Bangladesh, Mexico and several countries in Central and South America.
With the help of local churches and good friends of BJM, we gave away gift boxes to 63 children and 52 families. The gratitude expressed by the children was very touching. A seven year old boy came up to one of our team and got her attention and very quietly and sincerely said, “Thank you so much.” His foster mom cried when she heard how he expressed his gratitude. She was so proud of him. The children were elated to receive a beautifully wrapped gift box for themselves and one for their family. Towards the end as the children were waiting to leave, they started gathering around the boxes longing to pick them up, imagining what was inside!
The opportunities to reach these families are endless. Many families are recent immigrants who need friendship and support as they adapt to American life. We need staff and volunteers interested in tutoring children, with hearts ready to invest time and share God’s love.
Thank you to each of you that made it possible to give the Christmas boxes to these precious lives.
The Christmas Message: Simple but Profound
Sharon saw me from across the room and quickly made her way through the crowd over to where I was standing. “Could I talk to you about that message you just shared?” she said intently looking at my face for answers.
We were having a Christmas banquet for women in our neighborhood. Many experience street life on a day to day basis, homeless and vulnerable, combined with a history of various kinds of abuse and exploitation. Sixty women had gathered inside our drop-in center for a Christmas meal, crafts, a special gift, resources and prayer. This was truly a time of showing value and God’s love to women.
Even though we have these large events every three months this one was special.
This was to be the time where they heard the real Christmas message and had a chance to respond. After the extravagant meal the women were all ears as I shared about God choosing to become man. There were heads nodding as I spoke about the God of the universe being born into a life of pain and suffering so that he could empathize with them.
This is how I met Sharon. After the message, as I stood handing out gifts of hand knitted scarves and hats a middle-aged woman with straggly blonde hair made a beeline towards me...
Click here to read full story from our recent women's day event
Next steps:
We have started a prayer team, giving you the the opportunity to partner with us in fighting injustice. As a partner, you will receive a weekly email that will include prayer needs from our staff, specific details of recent connections and areas needing prayer. You will be able to collectively connect and pray from your home, office, or other locations.
To sign-up email: prayerteam@becausejusticematters.org
- Donate to the work of BJM
Would you consider supporting us as we close out 2010, and look forward to 2011? Due to the expansion of our work, we need to double our budget in 2011. It is your giving and support that enables us to continue the work of fighting injustice, and seeing lives changed. To make an end of year donation check out http://www.ywamsanfrancisco.org/financialgiving.html
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Support mission makeup by joining their facebook page here.
"God heard my prayers and sent me angels!"
These were the words of one of the dancers in a local strip club, when we arrived with Christmas gifts, cookies and coffee. We have been building relationships with many of the women trapped in the sex industry over the last few months, some who have been reaching out to us in crisis for support and domestic violence resources. This night we briefly went into their dressing rooms where we hugged them and offered hope for a brighter new year, Many of them shared stories of fearing christmas with their families and one girl was grieving the loss of someone she knew who recently died. We wore angel wings as a reminder to the ladies that Christmas can be a time of hope. We met new women and passed out numbers for those who asked to meet up for help with struggles they are facing. Pray that we will find more traction with continued follow up one on one meetings and that some
of these ladies will find the strength to leave and receive support and after care. | 
