Before we left Mexico to come to Canada for Christmas with our family, the Christmas celebrations had already started for the kids at Pan de Vida. Last year Ira and I were at Pan de Vida for the holidays and if you scroll back through the posts, you can read about that experience.
The leadership at Pan de Vida strive to keep the focus on educating the kids on the birth of Jesus and how He was born to be our Saviour. On Christmas Eve there will be a huge meal which is usually tomales and they drink a hot drink called atole which is a corn based hot drink and the children prefer chocolate flavored, so it a bit like hot chocolate. On Jan 6th, they have "King's Day" which is symbolic to the day the wise men would have come bearing gifts for Jesus.
The month of December is filled with day groups coming in to do skits, piñatas, meals and lots of candy as I have posted earlier. Just recently the kids were treated to an event at the Wal-Mart in the city. Last year they did the same but it was for the kids aged 12 yr old or less. This year was special to us because they included every child/teen/adolescent of Pan de Vida.
The employees of Wal-Mart receive pictures of the kids and then they individually pick which one they will adopt to give a gift to. The kids are transported to Wal-Mart and the employee gets the opportunity to give the gift personally to who they picked. In the meantime, snacks, lots of snacks, are fed to the kids and afterward they have a meal....and this all happens at the end of the check out lanes!!
Most of the younger kids get a coat, pair of pants, a top, undergarments and a toy. The older kids get a coat and some toiletries. It is a great time for the kids to feel loved by people who don't even know them and also for them to share stories of how God has provided for them through the ministry at Pan de Vida.
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