Carmen and Kevin read a Bible lesson together

¨My mother doesn’t love me,” eleven-year-old Kevin used to say. He is shy, but strong-willed. There was a time he would repeat this phrase to his mother Carmen Cruz, 32. Carmen remembers it was hard for her to learn how to love and show tenderness to Kevin because it wasn´t how she was brought up.

Carmen was raised by her grandparents because her mother couldn’t care for her. She remembers the lack of love and affection from her mother and that´s why she tries to be there for Kevin, to break the cycle and repeat what had happened to her. Carmen recalls seasons where Kevin would rebel in school and fight against his teachers and parents.

“And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.”

—Luke 2:8 (NIV)

For many people, just one verse from the Christmas story brings back memories of candlelight church services or family gathered by the tree. Across the globe, though the settings look different, the story is the same. But for Christians everywhere, we’re united in our common faith when we read the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ birth.

In November, we challenged our faithful partners to help us send 5,000 Bibles to families who had none. Our partners came through in a big way! By the end of the month, we had raised enough to send over 5,800 Bibles. And since on average, a Bible is shared with 6 people, over 35,000 people now have a chance to grow in their faith through the reading of God's word. THANK YOU!

Our International Bible Fund will remain open as long as there are families who need Bibles, so it's not too late to give.

Pastors Roman and Fanny prepare a lesson

Sabanagrande is a small town located in the south region of Honduras. The people who live there are hard-working people. They are grateful that God’s love is present in their community. Roman Bueso and his wife Fanny Zambrano have been living in Sabanagrande for more than 20 years. They both serve as pastors at the Amor Viviente Church, which translated means, ‘living love church'. “Teaching Gods love to the youth and kids has brought peace to each person in the community,” says Pastor Roman.

A few years ago, things were different in the community. Violence and bullying surrounded the school environments, gangs and other groups started to organize in the neighborhoods, recruiting vulnerable teenagers who didn’t find love or acceptance at home. “We use to live in Tegucigalpa. But I felt in my heart, a call from God to move into this community. Because with His help, we knew that we could change lives,” Pastor Roman remembers. He decided to serve God and become a pastor when he was 35 years old.

Nearly 3.5 million children and youth participate in World Vision discipleship and values education to strengthen their faith, their relationships, and their sense of self-worth. (©2018 World Vision/photo by Jon Warren)

At Christmas, we celebrated the birth of Jesus — the Light of the World. Through all of our work and throughout the year, we follow Jesus in spreading his light, to “shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16, NIV).

Our work to reduce material poverty goes hand-in-hand with our work in Christian discipleship to overcome spiritual poverty. Children cannot truly experience fullness of life unless they have the opportunity to experience and deepen their understanding of God’s love.

In the next five years, World Vision has a plan to expand our work to engage at least 2.5 million people in activities that strengthen the Christian faith of children and youth.

There are five main areas in which we help children experience the love of God:

Fetlework with several of her Sunday school students.

Listen to Mesrach read this story.

“I know what these kids were missing because I have been in their position,” says Fetlework. “During my time as a Sunday school student, we had the smallest kid from age three to the oldest at 14. We all sat in one classroom and most of the things said, I don’t remember. Me and my friends never liked that,” Fetlework said. 

Pastor Getnet remembers too, “Full Gospel Church had a Sunday school service however it was practiced differently. Parents used to bring their children and drop them into one large classroom where all of the kids used to sit. They only had one teacher assigned and whenever the teacher missed church we let them join the congregation since we had no other option.”