The birth of Christ, the King and Ruler of the universe, is an event that truly shocks every Christian believer. God, out of His infinite and boundless love for the people He created, came from heaven to earth. Thus, He became man, so that all of us who are here on earth can become like Him and be sanctified. With His descent to earth, all of His grace was spread wide across the whole world and man was born again, recreated and enriched spiritually. Christmas is a day of joy and gladness for all people of all ages. This descent from heaven to earth shows His infinite and incomprehensible humility.
And we here in Africa have turned our attention, as we do every year, to the little children, these innocent and pure creatures who have every right to taste this joy of the birth of the Saviour of the world. It was a special and very joyful day. Our hearts were opened wide and we offered all the children in our slum a sumptuous Christmas meal, with a gift of dolls, cars, balloons and much more. These little children never had the opportunity to be given such precious gifts! So much so that even the older children were asking to have a doll. And when I asked them why, they replied that they had no such opportunity when they were still young to hug and squeeze a doll in their arms!
All these children, who live under adverse conditions, with various family problems, were able, at least on such a Christmas day, to taste something different and to understand that we are all one big family, with a deep sense of love and solidarity. How these little children enjoyed this Christmas day! A special joy was painted on their faces and their smiles were wide and lasting, which showed how much they enjoyed this event.
I wanted to be close to them because I knew their life stories beforehand, since most of the children came from our kindergarten and primary school. Stories that, really, by our standards and events are unreal or fictional! These children were joined by a group of former street children, with their local MP, near the slum of Kibira. The MP himself confided his secret to me: he too had been in this category since he was a small child. He tasted all the pain and deprivation in this terrible situation. He described to me his life, in short, how he was born and found himself not knowing anyone in this world after being thrown into the dustbin. Someone found him by chance, picked him up and took him to one of the centers that pick up children from the streets. And so he grew up in traumatic experiences (I should note here that a few years ago I visited this centre and helped as much as I could). He remembered that a European priest with a long beard visited them and supported them. When he learned that this program existed and mentioned my name to one of our own, who remembered it vividly, he asked to bring street children as a politician. They came and shared this sumptuous Christmas meal with us. It was a scene that cannot be described, for the politician now seeing so many helpless children intensely enjoying this Christmas meal filled his heart with even greater joy, as he remembered how difficult the years of his own childhood were, when he was a street child and made every effort to find something like food either from the garbage or even stealing…
The events, these events and the joyful messages were the main topic for three consecutive days in the news bulletins of state television… The whole world was happy because the Orthodox Church wanted to gather so many souls and offer these little creatures a warm meal so that they could enjoy themselves like the rest of the world. And more importantly, to feel that they too belong to this rich world of creation and that they have every right to enjoy its benefits along with everyone else.
A gesture of love from our Church in the mission field changed the scenery of the lives of these young children. It assured them of the meaning and value that they too have as images of the same God and Creator, who, through the vastness of His multi-compassionate love, embraces the whole visible and invisible world. He came to earth, became man to deify all, without racial distinctions, without colors, origins, cultures.
With these data man can discover himself. His identity and his being. In this way, he will be able to live in peace and experience the greatness that comes from God’s love for man.
†Nairobi Makarios
