Did you ever notice how many popular Christmas songs mention being home? Here are two examples I think you’ll recognize: “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” and “There’s No Place Like Home for the Holidays.”
They reference it because home is where we find family, comfort, joy and a sense of belonging. There’s nothing quite like enjoying freshly baked Christmas cookies in a cozy home filled with love.
Sadly, not everyone will have a home to go to this holiday. Like Mary and Joseph on the eve of Jesus’ birth, several of your neighbors will be searching for home this Christmas season.
Hungry, lonely and far from home
That’s the stark reality for Mariam and her family. They were forced to flee their home when violence invaded their doorstep. They settled in a camp in the Democratic Republic of Congo where over 7 million people are displaced, and severe hunger is the highest in the world.
Mariam, her husband and son outside the tent they call home.
The conditions in the camp are horrible. There is little food, poor sanitation and no clean water at the camp — which caused Mariam’s husband, Idi, to become sick with cholera. This family is thirsty, hungry, lonely and sick.
Just in time for Christmas, a group of caring donors who want to help your neighbors, like Mariam and her family, has challenged you to send a donation by December 25. When you do, your gift will be matched dollar for dollar! That means:
After surviving the treacherous journey to leave her cherished home in search of safety, Mariam is now forced to travel another long distance — every day — in search of clean water for her family to drink. This loving family survived violence, but the lack of clean water at the camp has become a new threat to their lives.
They live day to day without knowing if they will have clean water to drink or nourishing food to eat. They miss home. Mariam and her family need a caring friend, like you, to help them know they are not forgotten or alone.
Your love can keep them going when they are close to losing hope.
Refugee families, like Mariam’s, URGENTLY need your help this Christmas!
Your compassionate heart can show your neighbors who feel forgotten that they have someone in the world who cares.
Be their home this holiday season, and always.
So please, as we anticipate the birth of Christ, give a truly meaningful gift this Christmas — while it will MULTIPLY 2X up to a match total of $100,000 — and improve the lives of children and their families who need your love now.
God bless you for shining the hope of the newborn Christ’s light into their frightened hearts.
