Earlier this year, we closed out the 2024-2025 Immanuel’s Child Christmas season. We have received reports of how these celebrations brought great joy to many children—and even their parents—as they have been given individual Christmas gifts and Bibles.

With each gift, they are also presented with a Bethlehem star, which represents someone who has committed to pray for them. This personal gift, along with hearing the Good News of the Gospel, impacts lives . . . and many are coming to saving faith in Jesus Christ. We have also seen many begin attending church and Sunday school classes! Here are a few stories we have received from SGA-supported pastors about the Immanuel’s Child ministry. 

From Moldova

“With great joy and gratitude, I am writing to share with you how wonderful it was to see your generosity pay off! On behalf of our community, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for your help in purchasing Christmas gifts for children. With your help, we managed to buy and give 50 gifts to the children in our village. May God richly reward you for your generosity! 

“At the Christmas service in our village, almost 80 children, all from non-believing families, were present. It was a wonderful opportunity to share with them about Jesus and the true meaning of Christmas. A few parents also came to participate, and they were very open. But, in particular, a 12-year-old boy among the children responded to the call to repentance and prayed sincerely. This was a great joy to us, for a soul was brought nearer to God. Even if no adults responded immediately to the call, we thank the Lord for the work He is doing in the lives of children.”

From Central Asia 

During last year’s Christmas event for special needs children, one mom came with a special child about five years old. The mom was crying during the whole celebration. After the celebration, they approached her to find out how to help her. And the mom was crying because it was the first time she had seen that someone sincerely loved her child. In our culture, such children are always in the yard or house, but not out on the street. People are ashamed to show such children. It is considered a curse from God to have such a child. Mom saw a kind of love that she had not seen anywhere else. She started attending church, although she lives far away. She has to carry her child more than one mile in her arms to get to the bus stop and then take a shuttle bus to the city. For more than a year now she has always tried to attend the church services.

From Russia

Yulia, is 12 years old. She is in the sixth grade. There are three children in the family. This was Yulia’s first experience participating in such a celebration. She listened to the whole program, received a gift, a New Testament along with Christian children’s literature, and cried at the end. When asked why she was crying, Yulia said, “Now I know how to talk to Jesus; now I know that Jesus can be my Savior too.” Yulia took our phone numbers to stay connected with us. She asked us to pray for her that she would have peace in her heart and that she and her family would be with Jesus.

From Ukraine

Saveliy, his mother, and cousin Yaroslav attended the Christmas celebration in church for the first time. The family was displaced from the Donetsk region due to the war. Saveliy’s mother is raising him alone, and now she is also helping to raise her nephew, because his father is in the frontline, and his mother refuses to leave the military zone. So his grandmother and his aunts took Yaroslav with them. The boys were delighted with the Christmas performance, for they heard the story of the Child, who came to earth so that we could have eternal life. Saveliy was asking in surprise, “God came as a baby?! Was he a boy like me?” Saveliy and Yaroslav were very joyful to receive the gifts! They started attending the children’s programs at our church. Saveliy made friends with other kids and the ministers and asked his mom to bring him to Sunday school.