Christmas Catalog

World Vision has a Facebook page called: The True Spirit of Christmas and if you "like" it you can read how their Christmas Catalog of gifts is helping people in Africa. 

"Become of a fan of this page and you'll have the opportunity to hear first-hand stories and videos of lives that have been changed through gifts from the World Vision Gift Catalog. Step into their lives and experience - through their eyes - the miraculous changes that your gift can set in motion."

Here are some of the stories or posts on the page-

**Unfortunately, I spent our last full day shooting in Africa on my back, sick in my hotel room. I couldn't keep any food down and slept for nearly 32 hours straight. I was so glad to see my bedside table chock full of bottles of water to drink every time I woke up.  Ironic, that on this same day our team was covering water in Ghana.

In Africa, clean water is hard to come by! Some children are sent every morning to fetch water for their families that's several miles away. And even then it's not the cleanest water. Yet, they drink it anyway because it's the only option.

Today, our True Spirit of Christmas team talked with a man named Yaw Owusu who remembers what his village was like before World Vision built a borehole well in his community.  Back then, people were constantly getting sick from guinea worm ...a disease that can severely cripple or even kill you. Yaw got guinea worm 37 times yet was one of the lucky ones...he survived.

Now he says his 6 grandchildren don't even know what guinea worm is! They've never gotten sick because they can get clean, healthy water from the borehole well. We asked him what his village would be like if World Vision hadn't built the well...he answered, "We would be a ghost town."  We’ll be posting a video so you can hear his powerful story in his own words very soon. 

I don't know what made me sick. We suspect it was something I ate. I just know that I was so grateful to have unlimited access to clean, healthy water to help me get well again. Before this trip, I would have taken for granted having plenty of water by my bedside. Now, I can't help but wish for everyone to have just as easy access to clean water as I do. – Mindy in Ghana

**It's been such a privilege to travel with the True Spirit of Christmas team these past 2 weeks. We've met some incredible people! The most eye-opening part of our journey was seeing just how BIG of a difference one gift can make on individuals, families and communities. I will never look at cows, goats or chickens the same way! I can't wait to get home and send soccer balls from the catalog to my new friends Elvis and Alfred.

**How can you recognize the true spirit of Christmas? Last week, we found a great example of what IS the True Spirit of Christmas. We traveled nearly an hour down a bumpy, dirt road to Moshono, Tanzania, a remote area of Africa that World Vision has been serving for nearly 15 years. We had the incredible privilege of meeting the Mollel family who has indirectly benefited from World Vision. Four years ago, their neighbor received a dairy goat from World Vision donors. In this community, when someone receives a World Vision goat, the first dairy goat born as a result, is expected to be given to a neighbor in the community. The Mollels received a kid goat from their neighbor and it has made a huge impact on their family. Not only has the goat provided much needed milk for their family, but they've also been able to sell some of the surplus to help buy basic necessities like medicine. Plus, the goat's manure now helps fertilize their garden and helps them grow better banana trees, edible roots, and sweet sugarcane.

I also saw the True Spirit of Christmas come to life in Rachel Mollel, This wife and mother of 4 was a bit standoff-ish when we first arrived. I can't imagine how overwhelmed she must have felt when our cameras and crew suddenly showed up in her front yard trying to ask her a multitude of questions. But it wasn't until we asked her about how our World Vision donors could pray for her that she truly opened up. I think in that moment she realized that despite our extreme life differences and how far apart we live, we share a common bond in our faith. We may have different prayer requests, different resources and differences wants/desires, but we both trust that God will provide for us....no matter who we are. My favorite part of today was when Rachel suddenly put her arm around me in a spontaneous moment...and in broken English...simply said, 'God bless you.' That IS the True Spirit of Christmas!"