a little hope

We delivered our shoe box Christmas gifts tonight to 2 refugee camps (Muehlhausen and Wiesloch). The people were really friendly and helpful. We tried to only give people gifts at their door. This was especially important in the bigger camp of Wiesloch. The security guards went with us. They even gave us a list of who was in each room. It took us a long time to go door to door. We went with Juergen and I, (our sons) Philip and Thomas, and my good friend Kerstin and one of her sons. And I know most of these refugee families will not be allowed to stay in Germany. They were all from Eastern European countries. But some of them were very poor. One family had 7 daughters, ages 15 to 2 years old. Their skin was dry and gray. Their hair was thin and falling out. They were malnourished. And I know if I could not feed my children, I would migrate too. I felt compassion for them, and sadness because I know they have little hope of staying in Germany. And they have little hope when they are sent back home. And I was grateful to offer them at least some joy for today. We could bless them in the name of the Lord. And everyone who received a shoe box gift was grateful. There are 1200 shoe box Christmas gifts being handed out in the next two weeks in the Heidelberg Germany area. Each one of these gifts have been donated by families in the area. They are going to children ages 0-18.