Christmas presents to the impoverished children of Peru

Rod Henderson

Thanks to sponsorship from Activated ministries we were able to distribute around 1,200 sets of coloring books, 1,200 sets of memory games and 1,200 Christmas Activated magazines to some of the poorest children in Peru. This distribution took place during Christmas 2009 at celebrations in 10 different locations including schools, orphanages, community centers, children’s hospital wards, including the cancer and burnsections, and poor neighborhoods.

The distribution of these materials were accompanied with typical Peruvian Christmas cake, hot chocolate, snacks, music, games and lots of love and fun for these needy and underprivileged children. The activities were presented by Christian volunteers in the capital city of Lima as well as in the northern cities of Trujillo and Huaraz. Some of these children live in the marginal areas of the poorest shanty towns and are quite impoverished. The children were all elated to receive the materials as many simply do not receive or exchange gifts.

The children not only received these donated materials with joy but over 500 of them prayed with us to receive Jesus into their hearts as their personal savior, which of course is the ultimate Christmas gift.We want to again thank Activated Ministries for the generous sponsorship of the above-mentioned materials that made these projects possible.

Following is an account from Karin, a friend who recently recovered from cancer. She had been hospitalized in Lima's cancer hospital and still goes there for regular check-ups. Because she knows the personnel well and has easy access to almost all areas of the hospital, she was able to pass out memory games (all wrapped up nicely) at the children's ward. Afterwards she passed out posters with messages “From Jesus with Love" to patients and visitors in the hospital. Photos are not permitted in the hospital, but she sent us this account via email:

I'm absolutely thrilled! I passed out all the gifts to the children on the seventh floor. After visiting the children’s ward we went around the whole hospital to pass out the posters to everybody that crossed our path. Every single gift was received with so much joy by the children. Thank you somuch for making it possible.

The kids that were well enough to talk wished us Merry Christmas. It's almost impossible to put into words the joy I felt and still feel of being able to reach these suffering hearts. I'm so thankful to God for having given me the opportunity to experience such bliss, and even more so for being able to walk along these corridors healthy, where I spent so many months between life and death.

God certainly answered my prayers and gave me another chance. I had been praying for some time asking Him for guidance in how to be able to help others, and this is a wonderful way to start. My prayer was heard and answered and I'm sure that the "From Jesus with Love" not only helped the sick, but also their families, who often suffer just as much or sometime seven more. It breaks my heart to see the little ones suffer and I'm glad that I could bring them some joy. I wish I could speak to all their parents and tell them not to despair, but to have faith and to keep trusting. I'm sure God will lead me step by step. Thank you for getting me started in the right direction.