The distribution of gift boxes within Hungary and across the borders caused a whole range of emotions: they ranged from wide smiles all the way to tears of joy on the faces of some of them. Many children living in deep poverty were greatly blessed to receive Christmas gifts, most of the times the only one they received this Christmas.

More than 1.500 children received Christmas gifts packed in shoe boxes and sent to them by children from more developed countries. This project, which is going on for many years now, mainly targets families whose living conditions are far below the average.

The gifts reached the children in one of two ways: either through evangelistic events or by visiting the families in their homes.

It is typical for children to express their emotions freely and honestly and this happened very powerfully almost each time a gift was handed over. For example, little David in Ukraine jumped up and down when he saw the contents of his box, containing sweets, various toys and school supplies. A little girl, Angela, who recently went through a heart surgery and since then is under regular medical care, reacted in a similar way. Her parents could only dream about getting her a Christmas gift but with God’s blessing this became reality – a great relief for the parents. Also Richard and Attila were very touched, their father even burst into tears when he saw the gifts given to his sons. From their last money he bought a Christmas tree and decorated it believing he won’t be able to place any gifts underneath – but God had better plans for them.

Our colleague Barna Luczi in Transylvania (Romania) used Christmas Eve to visit poor families and surprise the children with a shoe box gift. Those poor families and children who attend his church already received the gifts at the church service in the afternoon. Barna reports: “it is hard to describe the joy of everyone, even the parents. It was a great distraction for them from their difficult circumstances they have to face every day of the year.”

100 school children received shoe box gifts in Szenttamás in the region of Vojvodina, Serbia. Our volunteer Péter Miklósváry said that “the children were so happy that you could have thought they won the lottery or something”. Sparkling eyes, happy faces and joyful moments followed the distribution of the gifts. It was a blessed event even though the local school did not allow the event to take place. The children and parents had to go to a private house in groups of fifty to hear the Gospel proclaimed and receive their boxes.

There’s no greater joy than giving presents to children in need at Christmas time, is there?

Have a look at our photo gallery about the Christmas gift distribution

“The LORD watches over the foreigner and sustains the fatherless and the widow.” (Ps 146:9)

Young men and teenagers are hiding in the bushes. They all came a long way to get to Subotica (in Serbia, near the Hungarian border): some came from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh or even Libya and Somalia. They are refugees who came to Europe in hope of a better future.

“By now when I get there, they don’t run away but rather run towards me” says Tibor Varga from the Serbian Eastern European Mission, who visits the refugees regularly for the past two months. The outskirts of Subotica are mostly made up of agricultural fields, small wooden patches and bushes. In large parts it’s an abandoned area at this time of the year which currently serves as a hiding place for a couple hundred refugees. It’s a group of mostly males but there are also a few women and even children. There’s also a family with a pregnant mother. Will the child be born under such circumstances, under the cold winter sky?

Paradoxically though, the refugees still seem happy. They say that conditions are even worse where they come from. One said it’s not uncommon in Afghanistan to have people break into homes, kill the father, rape the mother, kidnap the children and burn the house afterwards. The man reported how two weeks after such an incident he found his father’s body at a river – with his throat slit. One can only imagine how desperate people must be to flee from Somalia to Sudan, that is to flee from cruelty to famine. The cruelty of the Serbian policemen seems more bearable compared to the circumstances in their homelands.

The team from the Eastern European Mission’s centre in Inarcs, Hungary recently went along with Tibor Varga to visit the people who are rejected by all. We’ve distributed food, blankets, personal hygiene products and a huge amount of second-hand jackets (formerly used by prisoners). We were surprised to see that quite a number of the refugees speak a little English and are happy to have a brief chat. They claim to be Muslims but are open to the gospel: Tibor has already witnessed to them and distributed a few bibles in English. “Giving them food also helps in keeping them from being forced to steal. We can only do a small thing but it still saves their lives. It seems that out here no one cares if someone dies as the conditions are so harsh” says Tibor and goes on to tell us how they developed a good method to distribute food to a large group of people. “One time, in the beginning, when we just started bringing them food and there were several hundred people here, they literally raided our car and looted it. They didn’t want to harm us but were simply desperate to all get some food to be able to survive. Then we remembered how Jesus fed the five thousand by having them sit in groups before giving them food. The next time around we used the same method and it worked! We told them that everyone would get food but they needed to sit down in groups and if any of them would stand up, we would immediately leave and not give them anything. People were very disciplined and this also helped in developing a good relationship between the local pastor and the refugees.

However, the future still looks rather bleak. The refugees don’t want to and won’t be able to stay permanently in the outskirts of Subotica. Only God knows where they will head to, when they’ll leave and what will happen to them – and He’s also their only real hope. There’s no one, no matter how far away they’ve come from, who can’t get close to Him and one thing is for sure: we’ll never have to flee from Him.

For additional pictures from our visit, please visit our gallery!

Recently we distributed aid for the first time near the Slovakian-Hungarian border, in a village called Iliasov where about 70 Roma live in an abandoned row of terraced houses. The gifts made up of second-hand clothes, shoes and toys represented a real help to the people who live in terrible conditions.

Gabor Jonas himself is a Roma and is a representative of the National Roma Self-Government who is trying to help advance the Roma both, in theory at the negotiating table as well as practically in the harsh realities of everyday life. With his ministry he’s able to help a great number of families and people. One was living in a crypt, another needed a prosthesis, yet another’s home had to be made accessible due to his disability.

For the past decade the Eastern-European Mission is supporting Gabor’s ministry: we gave him second-hand clothes, shoes as well as furniture to distribute to those in need.

Arriving in Iliasov the sorry sight of the long shabby line of terraced houses is what receives us. Once it was a home to mining families, now there are about 70 Roma living within the mouldy walls. The roof is leaking; a few spots where the windows used to be are covered by cardboard paper. None of the flats have electricity. The majority of the inhabitants is unemployed, they receive about 100-200 Euros per family per month in social benefits. Strong young people spend their days idle even though it wouldn’t take much effort to fix the roof or maintain the houses. Not everything is due to poverty; some is also simply work-shyness – or so it seems.

But as always, the situation isn’t that simple. We learn that the owner of the building would like to get the families evicted and hence doesn’t allow any renovations to be made on the houses. This might be the major reason for the indifference and slothfulness.

We unload the car and the clothes make up quite a pile outside the house. The people start picking out things they like and Gabor constantly cautions them: „Don’t fight over it! If you start a fight, we won’t bring you anything next time.” It is obvious that this isn’t his first time – Gabor really understands the Roma and knows how to deal with them. This abandoned colony is just one of the many in the region that are dependent on aid. From the last big delivery of sixthousand pounds of second-hand clothes there were about 1800 people living in and around the city of Balassagyarmat who received practical help.

Despite this one visit the families living in Iliasov will need further help. Mostly shoes, closets and beds. But most of all, they need the Gospel.