Some of you may remember how in 2024, our friend Keila and her three children took the incredibly dangerous journey through the Darien Gap fleeing for their lives. We met them hungry and very sick in Costa Rica on a missions trip. With a resilience like I have never seen, they made it safely to Wausau that same year. Praise God for his mercies along the way...there were SO many!

Backstory if you're interested: https://www.gofundme.com/f/keila-and-kids

Since then, Keila and the kids have worked on a goat farm, repairing fences, at a manufacturing plant, picking rocks out of farm fields, doing corporate snow removal, house cleaning, cleaning buildings in our downtown area, and babysitting for church friends.

Keila currently has landed "the job of her dreams" (her words!) and is working on a line and loves the consistency of her job. She has just purchased her FIRST EVER vehicle and is currently learning how to drive. So much of this is thanks to those of you who helped fund her family in 2024 while they went through cultural transition, language acquisition, and trauma recovery.

This week I was driving with her oldest daughter talking about Christmas. She mentioned mom bought a car this year so there would be no presents, but that was OK because they would all be together and make their favorite Columbian food. They are content and happy with very little. Their apartment has no tree and no decorations and they don't mind. Keila's son often operates as man of the house and answered me when asked about a Christmas list... what they needed for Christmas was a vacuum cleaner because theirs broke recently.

So here we are. I knew when I heard these things our friends and family would consider spreading some Christmas spirit. I notice I actually enjoy giving a lot more when people really need something. Would you join me? If you are local and would like to actually purchase something below, I do have sizes!

Here is what I got as Christmas list ideas from their family and my estimation of cost:

Eyeglasses $125

Gym shoes $80

Vacuum $120

Boots $50

Hair Accessories $15

Skincare $50

I would love to also give them a gas card and some shopping money for each of them to buy something for their mom/siblings. I am so encouraged by their story and how far God has brought them and I hope you are too!