Nazareth is one of those places you simply cannot skip if you ever visit Israel. Old stone buildings sit beside modern storefronts, traffic squeezes through streets that were never designed for quite so many cars, buses stop and start, shopkeepers stand in their doorways, and Arabic and Hebrew conversations overlap as people go about an ordinary day. But as Christmas begins to approach, the rhythm starts to change. Lights appear across the streets, families begin making plans, and eventually visitors arrive in enormous numbers. In past Christmas seasons, as many as 60,000 people have gathered in Nazareth in a single day.
There is something remarkable about watching that happen in the city where Yeshua grew up. People have come to the hometown of Jesus of Nazareth; His name is everywhere in the story of this city. Yet every year, as we watch the crowds gather, we find ourselves returning to the same question: amid all the lights, food, gifts, and celebration, how do we help people encounter the One whose birth they are celebrating? December is still some distance away, but with thousands of children and families eventually filling these streets, that question is already shaping what we are preparing at Home of Jesus the King.
For us, one of the answers is surprisingly simple: put something into a child’s hands. This year, we are preparing Christmas gifts for 4,000 children. Each child will receive a toy and a bag of chocolates, along with a small magnet carrying the words “Jesus is the reason for the season” in Arabic, Hebrew, English, and Russian. It is an intentionally simple gift. The toy will be played with, and we suspect the chocolates will not survive very long. But the magnet goes home. It may end up on a refrigerator beside family photographs, school papers, and shopping lists. Weeks later, when Christmas is over and Nazareth has returned to its ordinary rhythm, that little message may still be there.
We do not know what happens after it leaves our hands. A child may ask about it. A parent may read it without saying anything. It may lead to a conversation, or simply remain in the background of an ordinary home. Ministry often asks us to be comfortable with not knowing. Paul described it simply: “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth” (1 Corinthians 3:6). We can place something into a child’s hands with love; what God may do with that seed belongs to Him.
But when the crowds eventually go home, Christmas will look very different from one household to another. For a family already struggling to cover ordinary expenses, a holiday can magnify what is missing—the meal they want to prepare, something special they want to give their children, and the simple desire to celebrate without worrying about every shekel. We know families carrying those burdens, so alongside the children’s gifts, we are preparing 500 Christmas food packages for families in need, filled with essential groceries as well as chocolates and special holiday treats. We want to do something very practical: help a family put food on the table and enjoy Christmas with dignity, without one more expense hanging over the day.
Reaching 4,000 children and 500 families is a significant undertaking. Altogether, our Christmas outreach will require approximately $81,000, which is why the work begins well before the lights go up in Nazareth. If you would like to take part, we are rounding the cost of each children’s gift to $12, so $12 provides a gift for one child, $120 can reach ten children, and $1,200 can reach one hundred. A gift of $70 provides a Christmas food package for one family. Some may want to provide for many children or families; others may choose one. There is room for each of us inside this opportunity.
Whatever part you take, we want you to know what your generosity becomes here. Eventually the numbers become something very ordinary and very real: a toy placed into small hands, groceries carried through a front door, chocolates opened around a table, or a conversation with someone we might never otherwise have met. Your generosity allows us to be present in those moments with practical kindness and the love of Yeshua.
And please pray with us as we prepare—for the children and families we have not met yet, and for the conversations no amount of planning can manufacture. Christmas will come and go. Nazareth will return to its ordinary rhythm. But somewhere in one of those homes, among the family photographs, school papers, and shopping lists on a refrigerator, a small message may still be there:
Jesus is the reason for the season.