Christmas may seem like a distant memory now, as we are almost arriving in February, and the twinkly glow of love, laughter and lots of turkey has faded almost completely from our consciousness. However, Christmas of 2023 will last long in the hearts and minds of the precious staff, young people and families of those on our projects in Africa who were able to celebrate the festive season with each other in a flurry of joy that, for many, would have appeared to be an impossibility in the light of the reality they were living up until recently. Thanks to your generous donations, we were able to send over £4,200 to make sure that everyone on our Street Kids Rescue and Comfort Babies projects throughout Rwanda, Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi and South Sudan could have a very special Christmas indeed.
Rwanda
Comfort Rwanda oversees our most established projects in Rwanda – the Street Kids’ Rescue and Comfort Babies Projects – as well as the SKR projects in Burundi and South Sudan. They love to celebrate, and were delighted at the opportunity again this year to put on a party for the members of the projects, as well as take the time to join together and celebrate as staff. They wrote to us, saying, “Dear family, friends, churches & schools of Comfort International, we wish you a very Happy New Year of 2024. Your love, kindness and generosity improved quality of life for so many across the central African countries where we operate. We couldn’t have done this as the people on the ground without your regular involvement. Many thanks from the Comfort Rwanda team.”
Comfort Babies
The mums, babies, children and staff from Comfort Babies had a wonderful time celebrating at the end of December last year. Director David Gasana writes, “The Christmas celebration is all about sharing love and dignity, because they really deserve to enjoy a good life, smiling with the whole world and celebrating the birth of Christ! We prayed, read the bible, shared testimonies, provided new project t-shirts and food for mums to take home to share with their family households during the festive season, shared drinks, provided Christmas hats, decorated the Christmas tree, danced with joy, and took photos with Santa! Mums who had previously graduated showed up and talked about their independent lives which was so great to hear! Then later on, all the mums paid attention to the message we received from Becca Hoyle on the day, which was encouraging and positive to hear! Hearing from the Comfort mums themselves, saying how they used not to celebrate such happy times in the past until they were admitted to the Comfort Babies project, and appreciating positive outcome of our work together, made it all worth it.”
Street Kids Rescue
Children from the SKR projects in Rwanda joined together to enjoy a slightly different Christmas this year. They shared a Christmas meal and received gifts including new Comfort T-shirts, Christmas hats, shoes, and food to take home to their families to enjoy over Christmas. Then they were treated to a friendly (!) visit from the local police, who share a close working relationship with Comfort Rwanda, and who delivered a talk on how to live well in society, avoid the perils of drug abuse and gangs, as well as learning about their rights as citizens and how to build towards their future. It was all very exciting to speak to the police in their uniforms and cultivate a good relationship with young people who may have found themselves fleeing from these very officers in their recent past due to the difficult situations they got into. Finally, some of the children gave testimony of how God had changed their life over the past year and looked forward to their goals for 2024.
Burundi and South Sudan
The children on the SKR projects in Burundi and South Sudan had similar celebrations with the teams there, where they also received gifts and could take food to their families to celebrate at home. Moments like these generate much thanksgiving and praise to God and, like on the other projects, many of the children shared stories of how their lives have been changed since coming onto the projects. Below are some photos of the children in Burundi enjoying their time together.
DRC
Last but not least, the SKR in the Democratic Republic of Congo had their own party. In the midst of the violence and chaos that they find themselves in, a Christmas party is a ray of joy and hope shining in the darkness. It’s been a challenging year for many on the projects in DRC, but here they are, enjoying food, friendship and fun together in what was a truly special day.
A huge thank you goes out to everyone who donated to the appeal to raise funds for the Christmas parties. These moments are high points in the year for many of the children, mothers, young people and staff on our projects throughout Africa. Your generosity reminds them that they are loved, special, valued, and that the birth of a Saviour in Bethlehem 2000 years ago is as much a reason to celebrate now as it was then. Thank you.
