This Christmas season was very eventful for us! Aside from the annual Christmas party for our STEPS students at the Bellevue Pavilion, our people visited their home in Mindanao in the southern Philippines. They organized a meaningful Christmas party with games, stories and lots of useful gifts for 130 children and their families. They also prepared a home-cooked meal and packed rice for those invited.
On December 24, we visited the prison to celebrate a merry Christmas with the inmates. Mr. Chan from Bellevue gave us a suckling pig for the women! This and the many gifts they received were a source of great joy for these dear women whom we have come to love and cherish.
That same morning we received an urgent call from an acquaintance who had 350 gifts to give for Christmas, but due to some sad circumstances had no children to give them to. Fortunately, we know many poor children who don't have a present under the Christmas tree, and Bellevue offered us the pavilion as a place to deliver the presents!
Our staff in Balilihan, the farm we manage, organized a Christmas party with games and useful gifts for 20 families, and in Samar our STEPS students celebrated Christmas with their families with gifts and games.
We ended the year with a candlelight celebration in the prison with our dear inmate friends. Most of them were deeply moved, and all of them shared what they were thankful for in the past year and what dreams and visions they have for the new year.
On December 24, we visited the prison to celebrate a merry Christmas with the inmates. Mr. Chan from Bellevue gave us a suckling pig for the women! This and the many gifts they received were a source of great joy for these dear women whom we have come to love and cherish.
That same morning we received an urgent call from an acquaintance who had 350 gifts to give for Christmas, but due to some sad circumstances had no children to give them to. Fortunately, we know many poor children who don't have a present under the Christmas tree, and Bellevue offered us the pavilion as a place to deliver the presents!
Our staff in Balilihan, the farm we manage, organized a Christmas party with games and useful gifts for 20 families, and in Samar our STEPS students celebrated Christmas with their families with gifts and games.
We ended the year with a candlelight celebration in the prison with our dear inmate friends. Most of them were deeply moved, and all of them shared what they were thankful for in the past year and what dreams and visions they have for the new year.
