David MacPherson
I want to share with you our own Christmas miracle at Operación San Andres this year. Just to be clear: it’s not on the scale of the original miracle we celebrate each Christmas, but I’m sure the same generous God we worship is behind them both. In Bethlehem, God sent His Son to save sinners; this year in Collique God sent us 1,200 panettones to cheer the weary and the downcast. Let me explain.
For the past 6 months, Operación San Andres has been providing food supplies to over 20 soup kitchens across Collique. As demand grew, we sought additional supplies from a local charity called the Banco de Alimentos that would allow us to extend the reach of our support. Following one modest donation, a couple of folks from the charity appeared unannounced to check up on us. We were delighted to give them a tour of some of the soup kitchens we serve in the poorest corners of Collique, and our new friends were blown away by the scale of our emergency relief project.
The result? The following day we received a WhatsApp message informing us that there were 1,200 panettones waiting for us in their warehouse (with a retail value of around $7,000)! Not only that, but they were top-of-the-range D’onofrio panettones (a Peruvian specialty)! What a joy it has been over the past couple of weeks to be the bearers not only of good news, and rice, and lentils, and split peas, but also of delicious panettones that will grace the Christmas table of hundreds of the families we serve in Collique.
God is good.
Wishing you all a very joyful and grateful Christmas and a blessed New Year.
David MacPherson
December 22, 2020
