Our church hosted a Christmas party for an orphanage this year. As a congregation, we found out the ages and genders of all the kids in the orphanage and brought gifts for each and every child. Kevin and I were asked to help with the party and handing out the gifts. We had Big Sis babysit our kids at home so we could help without distractions. There were only two other families that came to help with the party and handing out the gifts.
We started the party by decorating cookies. So many people from our church made and donated cookies and frosting to make the evening successful. Sugar cookies are not a Korean food, so the kids really enjoyed decorating them and eating them. I was helping to mix the frosting, and boy was I making a mess. My hands were covered in red and green frosting and were just super sticky. There wasn't a place to wash our hands, so I had to use baby wipes and paper towels. At least my hands smelled super sweet.
After decorating the cookies we handed the gifts out to the children. So many people from our church donated so very many items to make this a successful Christmas for these amazing kids. Each child was given socks, candy and a toy or other age appropriate item. The hardest part was trying to figure out the gift that went with the appropriate child. We had bought gifts according to American ages, and in Korea they figure their ages different then Americans. Korean's don't celebrate their birthdays, and when a child is born they are considered one year old. Korean's all turn the next age up on the Chinese New Year. We were trying to make sure we gave age appropriate gifts and mentally trying to figure out what the 6 year old American age bought gift would be for the Korean child. It was so much fun to watch them open their gift and light up with excitement.
Some of the kids opened their gifts right away and started playing with them. While other kids waited and said they were going to open them on Christmas morning. I was really impressed with the kids that chose to wait.
My most favorite moment was when two 15 year old boys opened their gifts at the same time. One kid opened up a soccer ball and was super excited and immediately started playing with it. The second boy opened up a scarf and his face just fell as he watched his friend playing with the soccer ball. The friend laughed and pointed at the scarf. A few minutes later, the boy with the scarf got the scarf out and started opening it to wrap it around his neck and a frisbee fell out from the inside of the scarf. He quickly wrapped the scarf around his neck and started jumping around with the frisbee. It was now the boy with the soccer balls turn to look jipped, don't you love karma?
Every child bowed as we gave them a gift as a sign of respect. They were all so cute. I felt so warm all night as we were able to serve and uplift these children of God. It was a pretty big orphanage, and I am glad that we were able to provide an individual gift for each and every child.
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