Christmas at CoG

The past few weekends have held lots of joy, laughter, and excitement at the Children of Grace compound.  We hosted Christmas parties for nearly 700 of our sponsored children on two different days.  There were separate parties for the primary and secondary students and both were a blast!  This extended time with our students is so precious and it's a gift to be with them during their holiday breaks!

The party for the secondary students was held first, with an amazing program put on by some of our staff and several of our students.  There was dancing, singing, a dance competition, comedy, a Christmas message, recognition of recent graduates, and more.

And of course, no Ugandan celebration is complete without cake!  Bonnie and I baked and decorated a cake to feed over two hundred people and it was certainly all eaten!  We also served some special "snacks" for lunch and enjoyed soda and food before the cake.  Father Christmas even made an appearance for the cake cutting.

The primary party was also a blast!  With over 400 students attending, we were certainly exhausted by the end of the day but it was totally worth it!  What cuties they are.  We had a more brief program for the younger kids but it still included dancing, singing, awards, and a reenactment of the Christmas story.

There was even dancing with Father Christmas!

 To add a little more action to this event, we also had a carnival with different stations the kids could choose from.  The stations included face painting, which was a huge hit, along with games like sack races, egg relay, three-legged race, crazy dance, and football bowling.  The kids had a blast and even got candy as a treat for playing the games!  And again, all of this was concluded with food and cake.  

Thanks to some wonderful supporters back in the states, we were also able to give out a little booklet with the Christmas story to each of the kids.  The older kids received books that were already colored while the young ones got coloring book style cards and a little pack of crayons.  These were a treat and a special reminder of what Christmas is all about.

What a blessing to celebrate Christmas with these precious children.  And what a gift to share with them the truth that Jesus came to earth as a little baby to redeem this broken world and save them for eternity!  Hallelujah!