In a letter we sent out to our supporters this week, I wrote about the “awe” that our scholarship students show in approaching their studies as a way out of a life of working in the garbage dump that lies waiting outside their door. I have found that that same sense of awe describes the reflections of more than 300 high school and college students from the United States who met our scholars during service immersion trips last year. More than 600 young people from six nations share a feeling that Google defines as “reverential respect mixed with fear or wonder.”
As we go into the Thanksgiving weekend, and the Christmas season to follow, I’d like to invite you to experience some of that awe with us. For our Christmas decorations this year, we built our own Christmas village, consisting of three replicas of the homes that our scholars and their families live in, and a Nativity scene built by Detroit artist Chazz Miller, showing the similarities between the humble conditions Jesus was born into and the extreme poverty that our scholars face. Walking through our alleyway and peering into these homes yesterday touched me with that same sense of wonder at the challenges and resilience of people we support.
Our artists, including internationally recognized street art muralist Chazz Miller (pictured second from left), working on pieces of International Samaritan’s Nativity installation.
Please join us next Wednesday night, December 4, between 6:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. for the grand opening of our Nativity scene. We want to give you a sense of the difference you are making, and I’d love the chance to meet or get to know you better. There will be live music, hot chocolate, and the opportunity to see the homes and artwork yourself. For more information about the grand opening, follow this link.
If you can’t make it Wednesday night, please feel free to come by the office any weekday before December 20th, between noon and 5:00 p.m. Someone on the team will be standing by to give you a tour.
If you aren’t in the area, or even if you are, you can make a difference in a scholar’s life next year by helping to cover the cost of their schooling as well as making sure that their family has enough to eat each day. Please click the button below to make a one-time gift or monthly donation.
A New Life in the New Year
By Mike Tenbusch | December 28, 2022 Daniel Castelanos has not had an easy life. He was abandoned at the dumpsite in Tegucigalpa when he was nine years old. For two years, he slept on a piece of cardboard in the dump and foraged through trash for food to eat each...
Christ the King!
By Mike Tenbusch | December 21, 2022 When our Board of Trustees voted last January to make “Water” one of our goals for the year, it was a “gulp” moment for us. We knew that we were going to be stretched and running hard all year long simply to raise the $2.4 million...
What Makes Christmas Special?
By Mike Tenbusch | December 16, 2022 We asked our scholars that question, and thought you might enjoy seeing some of their responses and favorite memories from Christmas... Thank you for being a part of their celebration. If you would like to make a final gift to our...
