I know it seems really late in the game to be reflecting on the events surrounding Christmas of 2009, but I just received Gil Sanchez’s December Report from Casa De La Esperanza yesterday. Casa is a children’s home in Northern Mexico. Casa serves infants all the way to young adults who are 18 years old. It is a great place!
I have been fortunate enough to coordinate several medical mission trips to Casa over the past several years. The following is a excerpt from Gil’s report.
I hope you find it to be as moving as I did. –John

They stepped forward, one-by-one, as their names were being called out. As they made their way toward the Christmas tree to receive their gift, applause slowly erupted from the rest of the children watching…causing most to drop their head in shyness. You could feel the excitement growing and when the list of names was finally exhausted and the last name was called out; chaos followed, as the children tore through the wrapping to reveal the treasure that lied beneath. I walked around, careful not to step on any of the gifts and children sprawled out  on the floor, all the while commenting on how cool or pretty their gifts were.
As I carefully made my way through the crowd of children I could feel little hands reaching deep into my pockets depositing Christmas candy, as if it might go by unnoticed. In the moments that followed, the children were intently sharing their gifts with each other and I was once again struck by how loving and generous our children are. I was also struck by how quick they were to share what little they had with each other, which reminded me of Christmas past at Casa. It was also a moment of profound humility for me as I felt my eyes fill with tears of joy and my heart swell with thankfulness to God for allowing us to share these moments with our precious children.

Oscar is a sweet four year old Tarahumara Indian who was found on the banks of a wash after his village was swept away by torrential rains six months ago, killing everyone in his family. Although Oscar cannot speak much Spanish yet, I could see that it did not stop him from making the rounds, being sure not to miss anyone showing off his new pair of cowboy boots. If you could have seen his big brown eyes and the expressions on his face, you would see what Christmas is all about and that is to say that “it is by giving that we receive”. We had sixty-two other stories like this one taking place at that exact moment
For many of our children, Christmas is a bittersweet experience since it can be a particularly hard reminder of the void created by the absence of family. While this is true, your loving kindness expressed by making this holiday season so very special for so many reminded our children that they are not without love.
Thank you! -Gil Sanchez, Director
Gil’s insights speak for themselves. Since I have been to Casa on several occasions, names and faces came to mind, as I read. Caring for orphans and widows in all of their distress… sounds like pure religion to me…