NEW YORK – There were scores of them scribbled on neat little postcards dangling quietly on a Christmas tree in the middle of the outdoor pop-up shop – hopes and prayers.
“I pray that hatred, intolerance & bigotry will stop. That all creatures of this planet will have enough to eat,” said one note.
“Lord, please bless my family, friends, our city and our world. Help us to live for you and let our light shine,” another said.
The tree full of hopes and prayers is a special feature of global Christian humanitarian organization World Vision’s interactive pop-up shop inside Bryant Park’s Winter Village.
“I think that’s really special. I love analogies. I love visuals and so this is a great visual to tell kids, ‘what do you hope for for kids around the world?’ and bring this hope into this tree and show that when you hope for something it lights up this tree,” Sadie Robertson, actor and former reality television star known for the A&E show “Duck Dynasty,” told The Christian Post.
Robertson who began working with World Vision this year after they became sponsors of her Live Original Tour, said she was inspired to support the organization’s Give-back Gift shop after learning about the many projects World Vision works on at home and abroad to improve the lives of those in need.
“It’s a great analogy for kids to see when you start to hope for people around the world it lights up the world …this is just a great example of the holiday season, … this is what we really want kids to start doing, to keep praying, keep writing letters,” she said about the hopes and prayers.
For the second year in a row, through their Give-back gift shop, World Vision is giving New York City’s urbane crowd a chance to offer more than just thoughts and prayers to those in need around the world.
Through a number of options in the organization’s 2018 holiday gift catalogue, people can donate different kinds of gifts that would help families in the developing world get better access to clean water or empower them economically with the purchase of a goat or some chickens or even commit to sponsoring a child. The pop-up shop with a donkey, sheep and other farm animals on display brought many of these gift ideas to life.
“I had the privilege of raising 12 children. I have four natural children and I had the privilege of raising 12 additional children. Six of them were Native Americans. I tell you that because I believe that God placed a burden for children on my heart. So now I have the privilege of being part of World Vision which is huge for children and giving children the opportunity to be all that God created them to be,” said Dee Billing of New Jersey, who has sponsored 12 children over her lifetime rough World Vision and influenced about 250 other people to become sponsors.
“I encourage other people. The people that become sponsors in my opinion are a special kind of people. I’ll sit at a booth for hours and people pass by, but when that one person comes up, they are the ones. They put their finger on that child and they sponsor that child and make that child’s life better,” Billing said.
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Source: Christian Post
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