The Body of Christ at Christmas

Cozy feelings, giving all around, smiles and joyful conversations. ‘Tis the season for fellowship. Communion with the ones near to your heart, enjoying the time spent together and remembering why it is possible. Remembering God’s perfect gift of a child Savior, and the extra gifts of love and companionship He offers as well. It’s funny to think He could have stopped at that, could have just offered eternal life. Shouldn’t that have been enough? No, He gives us small, beautiful pieces of heaven on earth. Family, friends, and the love that is locked between it all, reflecting His love for us. This love is said to be “what makes the world go ‘round” and it is surely what makes the Christmas season so special.

At the Dream Center, family is usually not a luxury its’ volunteers have on a day to day basis. Most of us travel here from all around the world, leaving our families behind and serving our Lord together here in the heart of LA. So when this special holiday comes around, the Dream Center staff lovingly puts together several little Christmas get-togethers. Last night was the first one of this year. “A Christmas Tree Lighting Party”. The air was chilly for a December night in Los Angeles, which made the sparkling lights and hot chocolate that much better. I looked around and felt the Christmas love that sometimes I feared wouldn’t be there, due to the miles between my family and I. But it was. Cheerful Christmas music played loud, and the night ended in some off-key caroling and a fun little dance-off. The activities were a fun addition, but what made the night so special was the companionship we all shared. The body of Christ is the surely the most beautiful thing on earth, and seeing it for myself, during one of the most loving season of the year, was the most magical.

-Courtnay

1,800

When I first got to the Turkey Give-Away event at the Dream Center, I was trying to imagine what one to two thousand people would look like. Seeing men, women and children from every demographic was incredible. I spent time just walking along the line catching smiles from old proud Chinese and Mexican women, seeing couples holding each other with their young children in push chairs looking forward to when eleven o’clock would roll around and the turkey give-away would begin. It was a lot to take in; the atmosphere was peaceful but also full of excitement.

That’s when I noticed a small group of young people gathered around a middle-aged Hispanic lady. I went over to them and enquired what was going on, it turned out that they were from the Movement and they excitedly told me, that they were walking through the line and asking people if they needed prayer. They were asking God for healing miracles and the amazing thing was that they were seeing them happen all over the place first-hand. One of the Movement guys invited me to follow them and document what was happening.

In the beginning I was just going to watch and write what was taking place but quickly changed my mind as I felt the holy spirit urge me to participate in the praying, and I’m glad that I was obedient!
Genoveva was the first lady I saw healed when we prayed for her. She told us that she suffered from excruciating back pain and was out of work recently due to the lay-offs at her job. As soon as we prayed for her I saw the look of surprise on her face as she told us, that she felt a warm heat sensation on her back, and then said that God had healed her!

Next in the line we met Eloiza, a forty-eight year old lady originally from Guatemala who suffered from a condition that sent pain up and down her nerves on her right side of her body. She also experienced a similar heat sensation during her healing from God. And Juanita a seventy-five year old Pilipino lady who had lived with arthritis for many years and was telling us how while she was waiting in line, “I was complaining to my friend that I can’t sit down or bend my legs” After being prayed for was jumping around crying thank you Jesus and hugged me several times when she was healed!

God did supernatural things in the line of the Turkey Give-Away and to me it was as important to see signs of God’s amazing love for his people, as it was to see up to eighteen hundred people blessed with their physical needs being met by the food donations. God is able to use us to do the miraculous if we are obedient to his call on our lives.

-Chaka