A refugee family from Uganda got an unexpected blessing with a visit from an American family with a heart to give. Thank you sweet family for offering your time today to meet with me to get to know better and encourage a family in need. Thank you for sharing some blessings that God has given you by taking a family shopping for some items they were much in need of. God continues to surprise me with the ways He chooses to show love and provide for people.

The Ugandan family of four I visited again today has now been in America for about 3 weeks. There are two adorable and fun boys, one age 3 and one only 10 months. Their home had accumulated a few necessities but they certainly needed a few additional things. The families refrigerator and pantry was pretty bare. I saw a few packs of spaghetti noodles, two frozen chickens, rice, a sack of potatoes, some apples, oranges and milk. There were some other groceries in the refrigerator but mostly it was bare. This family had received a stock pot with a few foods from a previous delivery from Asha’s Refuge and probably some initial food items from the resettlement agency. The dish soap bottle on the kitchen sink was empty. The living room was mostly empty except for an old tv, a couple of very broken wooden kitchen table chairs and a couch that was severely old and torn. The bedrooms did have beds with at least one blanket on each bed. There was not really any other furniture in the house that I can recall. The closets had a few clothes in them but there were little to no warm clothes and no warm coats. The three year old boy had on shoes with no shoestrings and no socks and his shoes kept falling off. He didn’t have a coat either but somehow he had a little black dress suit jacket and looked pretty sharp prancing around in it as we all headed for the car.

The moms one request was a toilet brush to help clean her toilets which she requested to me through a little game of Charades. The father wanted an antenna for his TV. The children had almost no toys at all and kept trying to run out the door which immediately leads to the parking lot. (An exercise toy saucer was donated previously for the 10 month old which he enjoys. That’s about the only toy that was in the house.)

After introducing this sweet refugee family to my American friends (another father and mother but with two little girls) they were all eager to hop into the car and go shopping together. The little American girls were wide eyed as they watched their mom and dad lovingly invite new people into their life. They excitedly jumped and giggled as they tried to help their parents with the little boys. I helped to buckle up the children in car seats and watched as they all cheerfully drove out of the apartment complex. How wonderful God is to have shaped a family with a very big heart compelled to spend their Christmas holiday time taking a family in need shopping! How wonderful it was for me to get to be a part of making this connection.

I’m not sure but I’m willing to bet that this young American family gave up some of their own Christmas gifts to share with a family they felt was in more need than they. I pray a very special blessing tonight for both families that God would continue to protect and grow them both closer to Himself and that through their experience tonight they would each come to know Him all the more. May His good and perfect will be done.