By Rick Sample, CBF field personnel

It gets cold here in northern California, especially in the winter months. While visiting with an Afghan refugee family, I learned that all three of their children did not have any warm winter coats. The older two kids had to go to school every day with very light jackets like windbreakers.  Immediately, I wanted to get coats for the kids. Rather than going out and buying coats, I leveraged one of our local partnerships – a very interesting couple who raise money each Christmas by putting up an elaborate Christmas display. It covers their front yard with many Christmas scenes, toys, display cases with figurines in the windows, music playing and even a train that rides through a delightful Christmas village.  

As both their neighbors and people from outside the neighborhood tour the famous Christmas scene, the host couple receive toys and money which they use every penny for sharing with families at their local elementary school who have financial needs. As it was early January, I contacted them to inquire if they had any funds available to provide the three coats needed. The answer was yes!  

The very next day, three perfect coats were delivered to my door. When I promptly took them over to the Afghan family, they were thrilled. The parents were so grateful, and the three children were excited. The youngest child, a girl aged three, showed her delight by dancing and jumping up and down. Certainly, the family could have gotten used coats from a thrift store. Likewise, I could have afforded to buy the coats myself. But after years of developing partnerships in our community, it made sense to work within that framework to provide beautiful new coats that did not cost me any money. Because presence matters … the value of my presence in this community and my friendship with this Afghan family made possible a lovely experience of sharing the love of Christ.