by Brett Millican,  Founder and Team Lead

I love this time of year! When the latter half of October comes I know a number of exciting events are just around the corner. For one, my wife and I get to celebrate our birthdays together. Two, Thanksgiving is fast approaching, which means I not only get to eat some amazing food but that I get to spend time with dear friends and family as we celebrate the goodness of God in our lives together. And third, this time of year also means our Christmas trip to Casa Vallado is just a few weeks away.

One of our annual traditions at the church I pastor at (Mosaic Church Austin) is something we call Project Christmas. During the month of November, we gather donations and gifts from the people of Mosaic and around the community to help provide Christmas presents and community events for at-risk youth in a local elementary school, our friends in the homeless community, and the children of the Casa Vallado Children’s Home in San Luis Potosi. The response to Project Christmas is always fantastic and from the donations, we receive we are able to travel to Casa Vallado with a few thousand dollars that we use to purchase much-needed shoes, clothing, jackets, school supplies, and toys for the Vallado children and moms.

Taking the house moms to the local Walmart is, honestly, one of my favorite things I do all year. These women labor tirelessly, love endlessly, and give of themselves sacrificially all year long, and come December they are doing all they can to cross that finish line from the previous 11 months just to get ready to do it all over again come January. So, when we walk into that Walmart and I get to tell them to pick out whatever the children need to make it, whatever they need to ease their burdens, and for them to pick out something special for themselves as well, my heart fills with immense joy knowing in some way the Vallado Project is giving them the hope and confidence needed to make it through the upcoming year.

Following our shopping spree, we always take the gifts back to the children where we hand them out in what can best be described as a scene from the Christmas Story (minus the pink bunny pajamas of course) where we call the children up one at a time and everyone watches the opening of the gifts. The children then perform some kind of Christmas play or choir performance as a way of saying thank you, and then we all feast on Talames together, play games, laugh, dance and celebrate the fact that God has in some crazy way knit our hearts together as one big family.

Last year we experienced the Christmas miracle of getting to watch the children experience snow for the first time in their lives. This year…who knows what special moment awaits us, but I can guarantee one will happen. You see, when people come together to celebrate the gift of God’s love for us and our love for one another something miraculous is bound to happen. It really is the most wonderful time of the year.

If you would like to help make our Christmas trip to Casa Vallado possible this year you can do so by making a donation to Mosaic Church’s Project Christmas by clicking the button below. Select “Project Christmas: Casa Vallado” in the designation drop down menu.

Give hope to a child in need. Come, join the project.