My sister Lori asked me to come and photograph the children of the village of Aningas. There are many children there and most do not have a picture of themselves. In the 100 degree heat I crouched in a small school hallway surrounded by children and  their parents taking picture after picture. 600 pictures in all were taken, printed, and framed to which Lori added a Bible verse and passed them out. Here is what Lori wrote of the time in the village-

"At Christmastime, we will be in a little village three degrees South of the Equator, in the Northeast of Brazil. The village of Aningas has been abandoned by its government and its church. But not by God. He saw their need and heard their cries for help and sent us. We have gotten to know and love the people there. There are 1,100 children in this village and we've had the chance to work in the school: giving lessons, bringing drinking water to the school, building tables and benches and desks and installing lights. When we asked the children what made a good Christmas, they said, "When there's a chicken to eat."

So, we plan, God Willing, to serve the village a Christmas dinner and enjoy it with them. I can't help but think of how different our holiday dinner will be this year. Forget recipes, our challenge will be learning to cook over an open fire! We'll also be bringing food and clothing to the children in the Orphanage that we support and work in. We plan to play good old fashioned games with the kids like sack races, three- legged races and water balloon fights.

Our country itself has had a difficult year, but I can't help hoping that this might be the best holiday ever, filled with the true joy of giving and serving each other. The message of this season compels us to focus on the important things in life and realize that we have many blessings to count."