Irving Bible Chuch Angel Tree

Irving Bible Refugee Christmas 2008
The Lord gave Himself to us in the form of His Son, Jesus, and spoke the word love. IBC worshippers shared the same love by reaching out to one hundred refugee children here in Dallas this Christmas. Most of these refugees are muslims from Somalia. With so many generous and lavish GIVERS, it brought tears to my eyes to see the warmth of love poured onto these children. The Somali Bantu are a forgotten group that we are reaching with the gospel right here in Dallas. These children are trying to understand the meaning of Christmas; many of whom don’t have coats, shoes, or toys. Now, we know the gifts are not the true meaning of Christmas, but we do know it gives us the opportunity to share that Christmas is different-more importantly who the true gift is. It allows us to build relationships of love. We thank you for the opportunity to bless these children. I would like to share with you some of these stories of these children: Mohamed: Mohamed lives between three homes. He used to live with his grandmother who had 12 children. She is dying of cancer and kidney diseases, and now lives with her daughter. Mohamed is an orphan; both of his parents have died. Now he lives nomadically with his uncle who cannot cook, his grandmother's home, and another relative's home where they have six children. When I picked up Mohamed the other day, he grabbed the soccer ball that was given to him by one of the IBC GIVERS, and I knew that person would never really know how much Mohamed had been blessed. Mohamed’s family is Somali Bantu. Selme: We brought Selme her present along with a Christmas tree. She has an older brother that tends to be a little bossy. So as she was opening her present we had her brother, Mohamed, (yes, a common name) help with the tree. This was a good opportunity for him to be a helper. As Selme was opening her present, she said, “Hannah Montana! Yeah! I love Hannah Montana!” I was a little shocked as I didn’t expect quite this reaction from this little 9 year old. I asked her and she said, “Everyone knows about Hannah Montana!" They were delighted to have their very own Christmas tree, and it was wonderful to have Mohamed’s energy channeled for at least a few minutes. Selme’s family is Somali Bantu. Daniel: Recently, Daniel had a very stressful experience in his life where he had to go into treatment for abandonment and attachment issues. Daniel is 9 years old. He had been found as an infant in the forest where his current mother found him. So life for Daniel has been difficult since his arrival to the States, as well as his continual adjustment to his family. He recently moved, and when trying to track him down, the Lord had blessed him with a very generous IBC GIVER! Daniel received new clothes, a jacket, toys, a soccer ball, and a Christmas tree! Daniel said he never had a Christmas tree as he stood in front of the tree with his new soccer ball. I wished I could show the picture, but as life has it, I lost my camera. Please keep Daniel in your prayers. He is living with a sweet, loving, believing, couple that really wants to help him. Pray for healing and adjustment as he starts his new school. Daniel’s family is from Rwanda. May you be as blessed this year IBC GIVERS. May you continue to join us in reaching and praying for these refugee children and families as we reach out to them as His hands and feet through our ministry at Refugee Resources, Inc. Thank you for partnering with us. In His Love, Alysa Marx