Chocolatada

Yesterday I had the opportunity to participate in an outreach to one of the communities affected by the flooding last year. Due to a river overflowing in the community flooding many people lost everything. One man lost five family members during the flood. Many destroyed houses are still standing as they were almost a year ago now. This was the first time I've been to towns deeply affected by last year's floods. It was an incredible sight.

Christmas came a bit early in Taray. A group of missionaries who have been ministering to this town since last year's flood came to give a big party, a Chocolatada(a big Christmas tradition here). About 150 people came, which was about double what we expected would come... Hot chocolate and a special bread were served, there were clowns for the kids, a craft for the kids, gifts for the children, special packages of food for the elderly and much more. It was a great event for all. There was a time of singing (Christmas songs of course) and the gospel was presented. The craft we did with the kids was a paper candle with “Jesus, Light of the world” on it. As it was linked to the message given, our hope is that the kids might remember this very important message as they bring these little candles into their homes.

Although this town has been through so much in the past year, it was great to see them enjoy this time of fun and celebration. Here are a couple of pictures from the event.