St. Nick

Click for St. Nick 2018 Updated (1-31-20)

This past December 2019  Click for St. Nick was able, thanks to your partnership,  to distribute 85 baskets of Christmas joy and hope to those needing a hand up at that time of the year. We were able to help over 300 people, including adults and children with a basket of food, some kitchen utensils along with short message from the Bible as to why Christ came to this world taken from the Gospel of Luke.

In this picture to the right, this family was abandoned by the husband and wage earner and having no where to go, a neighbor gave them a room to use temporarily until they could find something.  Each family like this one receives a basket filled with staple food items along with a nice plastic container that they use throughout the year to keep their food items.

Some of the houses where we visit are not rodent proof and the kitchen can often have contaminated food if its not kept away from the mice and rats in a container like this won’t last long.  This is a daily reality in places where we work.

These people that we visit are selected by the need that our team make note of and in almost all cases they are surprised to receive a St. Nick basket never thinking that God would bless them in such a way.  Follow up is encouraged by our team members.

When we are made aware of tremendous need of a particular family we do try and help .  Any gifts earmarked for Click for St. Nick throughout the year are used for this purpose.This year in 2020 we have shared a few additional Click for St. Nick baskets from January to March when we began our helping  those affected by the Covid epidemic year

This year we will begin the distribution of baskets the beginning of December 2020 in Honduras.  We step out in faith purchasing some plastic containers seeing that the price is more reasonable in October and early November rather than purchasing them in December with prices are elevated on all items.

In looking back over our 2019 campaign we were able to supply an approximate two week supply of food in addition to kitchen utensils for $9.75 per person. This comes out to about $40/basket.    I believe this has been an economical way to share the love of Christ in a tangible way to those needing a hand up in life.  Thanks for being a partner in this ministry.

We look forward to having your partnership with us for the 2020 Click for St. Nick Ministry Campaign.  This coming winter will be our 12th year of helping others with a hand up in life.  On behalf of Isabel and her family shown above and the rest of the recipients that received a basket this past year, we say thank you and God bless you for your generosity.  Blessings on your life and family.

Christmas in July!  Can it be? (7-13-15)

A recent example of Click for St. Nicks ongoing program in helping people where needed with a basket of basic food for the family was in helping this lady I’ll call “D”.  She has struggled in the corner of the world where she lives.  She lost her husband to another unsolved homicide near where she lives.  In losing the breadwinner of her family she took to looking for work and odd jobs to make ends meet.  She is a very enterprising woman and has fought for her son and daughter.  SOR Mission was able to help her recently with some funds that came in for Click for St. Nick.  We were able to help her purchase a basic food basket for her family at a local store.  She wanted to thank everyone who has had a part of this great program.  Thanks for your partnership.

Gloria’s Story can encourage us (12-31-14)

This New Years Eve we made yet another visit to a family in need locally in San Ramon. Friends of the mission, Carlos & Kirea, joined the mission team in presenting a basket of Christmas joy to doña Gloria and her family.
A frequent occurrence here, her common law husband left after the fourth child was born leaving her with a tremendous burden of not only caring for her four young children but also providing for their physical needs. She has impressed me by saying that she worked and saved and bought a small lot where with help from neighbors and friends she constructed a small simple house (approx. 450 sq ft) for her family of five. She survives on $40/month from the church plus what she can earn from odd jobs as time permits with her family responsibilities. Life is very difficult for her.

I commend her in her love and compassion for her children and her desire to have them finish high school. Her oldest is 15 and we encouraged him to continue his studies at the local high school where he will be returning in February.
She shared that she needs to obtain a passport from her country of birth so that she can legally apply for a scholarship for her sons to continue in school. Can you imagine what you would do in a situation like this. She will need, I suppose around $300 to complete this but the boy’s future in interconnected to finishing their studies at the local high school. Education unlocks the doors of opportunity.

Someone asked me recently when I was going to slow down from the mission work that I have been involved with for the majority of my adult career and upon reflecting on this question, I replied “when I suppose there is no more human need and suffering.” God has me here in Central America for such an hour as this.
Thanks for your support and prayers to keep this ministry alive with helping others connect to the loving grace of our Creator God Jesus Christ. Thanks!

Maranatha!

Our goal is being reached – 80 baskets – 1,2 or 3 at a time! (11-19-2014)

This past month  we have been busy in Tegucigalpa, Honduras as well as San Ramon, Costa Rica in preparation for the distribution of our Christmas baskets for our Click for St. Nick Christmas Joy program.  If you have arrived on this page with the desire to help us this year to make a difference in the lives of 80 families, then go directly to donate now and once there scroll down to “Click for St. Nick” to make your secure online donation of $38, $76 or $114 or more  to buy 1,2, 3 or more baskets @ $38 dollars each.  If you would like to send in a check  or pay using PayPal you can go to our contact us page on this site to find our mailing address or email address for PayPal.

The time is approaching when we will be distributing the baskets in Tegucigalpa and San Ramon and currently we are putting together the basket shown in this picture along with adding potatoes, onions, plantains and a bag of tortilla mix.  In addition, the family will receive 4 plates, 4 glasses, 4 spoons along with a kitchen knife.  All together, this will be a huge blessing to each family.

Please consider helping if you can as this provides us at SOR Mission the opportunity  to be a blessing and to open up doors of opportunity during the year to share the good news of a new life in Jesus Christ through knowing him personally.  The Psalmist tells us in Psalms 41:1 that,

                                                             “Those who pay close attention to the poor are truly happy!
                                                                        The Lord rescues them during troubling times.”

Click for St. Nick begins its 2014 Campaign to help 80 needy families. (10-15-14)

Seeds of Righteousness Mission (SOR Mission) has initiated its 2014 Campaign for Click for St. Nick with a goal of reaching  80 families with a Christmas basket including food and kitchen utensils for families struggling with no employment, medical expenses or families that are simply outside the scope of any available assistance.  Last year, due to 3 deaths in the family, we had a shortened time to reach out to those in need but we were still able to reach out to nearly 200 people with a basket of Christmas joy.

This year’s campaign hopes to reach 80 families which would represent well over 300 adults and children with a basket of hope.  We anticipate this year that each basket will cost the mission about $38 and so one is able to put into the hands of a very needy family outside of any sustaining network a basket of food and some kitchen utensils  that will give them hardy meals throughout the month of December.

This year’s campaign kicked off its fund raising drive this past week  in San Ramon, Costa Rica where SOR Mission is headquartered.  Our campaign will reach out to those in both Costa Rica and Honduras.  This years first donation came from a friend of the mission, Jean ,who owns a hair salon in San Ramon, CR called Peluqueria Jean.  He’s known as one of the best salons in this part of Costa Rica.  Our thanks to Jean for purchasing the first basket for a Costa Rican family.

Our campaign this year hopes to raise $3,040 to purchase the 80 baskets that will be distributed.  One can partner with us via an online secure donation or one can go to our contact us page to mail in a donation.  We hope to have the baskets purchased by the middle of November so as to be ready to begin our campaign the 1st of December.  Please help with your generous donation if you can.

Click for St. Nick Continues it work through the month of January (1-21-2014)

We have continued our Click for St. Nick ministry through the month of January.  Mateo just returned from his January ministry in Tegucigalpa distributing a number of baskets to those in great need.  We have met with a number of families totalling over 200+ people these last two months as we shared the reason of  Christmas  with those we helped. Your partnership made  a difference. This year because of the the desperate conditions in parts of Tegucigalpa we will continue to share baskets throughout 2014.  Please help if you can by partnering with us for 1-2-3 baskets at $37, $74 or $111.  Its a joy to have you sharing with us in this meaningful campaign to help others.

“There is one who gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want. Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered.” Proverbs 11:24-25

 

If you would like to help with our Click for St. Nick effort to help at least 80 families this year with a Christmas basket of food and supplies (Scroll down to see a picture of a typical basket) you can go to the donate now button here to make a secure donation on line scrolling down to Click for St. Nick on the menu.  If you would like to donate via the US Mail or via PayPal you can go to our Contact us page on this website for that information.

Thank you for caring for those who need help at this Christmas Season.

Joyfully,

Mateo

Christmas begins early in the Tropics (11-22-2013)

This fall I saw my first Christmas tree around the  first of October in Tegucigalpa, Honduras.  It seems without the Thanksgiving Holiday coming in between October and Christmas they begin early in putting up their decorations for the Holidays.  However the poor know that the giving of any gifts or presents would be affordable only after the family has something to eat.  Without the basic food items such a beans, rice and masa for tortillas, the family has a hard time imagining about presents.   

I’ll be traveling to Tegucigalpa soon to commence our sharing baskets with those in need.  Last year we were able to help over 200 individuals with a basket of food and some kitchen utensils.  This year we hope to do even more if possible.

Please help us to help these families  who we work with in Tegucigalpa and San Jose.  Your donation of a basket   for $37 or three baskets for $111 will be a great help to these families.  Do what you can and pray with us that those families that we need to help will receive a basket of joy from us.  Thanks!

St. Nick is once again giving out baskets for Christmas

Within three weeks we’ll be starting our sharing of Christmas baskets for our Click for St. Nick program in Honduras and this year we’re adding Costa Rica as well.  We invite you to partner with us as we share with the neediest of the needy in these two countries.  Each one of us will receive a blessing from our Creator as we open up our hearts and wallets to help a family to have a basket of happiness shared with them this Christmas. You can go to donate now on this page and make your donation for 1,2, 3 or more baskets.  Each basket costs $37.00 and three baskets will cost $111.  Please help if you can.

Hebrews 13:6 “Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.”

 

Why is the number (1) considered a lonely number? (10-17-2013)

Recently we received two donations for St. Nick  in the amount of $111.

When I reviewed yesterday the donations received at our online giving site, I  saw two generous donations in the amount of $111 each for Click for St. Nick.  I’m not aware as to how you may think,  but initially I was taken back by the donation amounts of $111.  My initial thought was why not  $100 even or maybe perhaps $110 or $125.  Then it dawned on me…..$37 is the cost for a basket of Christmas cheer for a needy family and then realizing we had two generous donors who purchased 3 baskets each for 3 needy families.  $37 x 3 = $111.  The theme title suggests that  1 is a lonely number but by adding 1 + 1 +1 = 3,  this  makes is a very happy number and as a partner with us you have the joy of knowing that by putting 3 – 1’s together (1+1+1) , you’ll be able to purchase 3 baskets as shown here  of Christmas  joy & grace in helping 3 needy families with a bit of encouragement. You can go to either our online donation site on this page or you can go to contact us above for Paypal or sending in a check for this noble and worth cause.  If you are able, we look forward to receiving your 1+1+1 soon!

Christmas for St. Nick is just around the corner in Central America  (9-29-13)

Last night chatting with a friend from Tegucigalpa, the conversation came around to talking about food.  Of course, this is one of my favorite topics seeing I love to sample different dishes as well as attempting to put together an exotic dish for my family’s dinner table once in awhile.  It was late and I had mentioned that I was going to have some left overs seeing it was almost 9:30pm and I hadn’t eaten since breakfast.  I asked our friend if they had eaten and she replied that she and her husband hadn’t eaten dinner as there was only enough to feed her children.  It kind of sobered me up as to talking about the ease many of us have in obtaining even  a “lowly” left over from the frig.

Please help this year with our Click for St. Nick 2013 to help those this winter who need a bite to eat and a bit of food to fill the pantry so to speak.  Your donation of only $37 will buy a basket of food for an average family in poverty in either Honduras or Costa Rica.  You can simply go to donate now on our home page and follow the instructions in filling out your secure online donation for Click for St. Nick.  Thanks for taking the time to read this and considering how you can help.  We have limited time before they arrive.

Blessings and Thanks!

Mateo

This unglamorous picture shows a portion of last years supply of containers which was a portion of the “Click for St. Nick” baskets that we distributed during the month of November/December.

The baskets will arrive around the middle of October and they usually don’t last long before they sell out.  We are planning on the purchase of at least 75-80 baskets for this year.  We will have everything ready for distribution for the 1st of December and we will work until the baskets are distributed.  Last year we worked through Christmas Eve Day.  This would be an excellent opportunity for families to teach their children about the poor using various creative ideas to encourage them to save for the purchase of one or more baskets at $35 each.

Each basket purchased has a good supply of items for each home we visit. In addition to the nice storage container we include staple items that are shown in the picture that is posted here on this posting.  We are currently working with many of these people and from what we learn from talking with them and their neighbors, they don’t have much to look forward to at Christmas due to the extreme poverty in which they live.  These baskets along with kitchen items will be a huge blessing to these families. 

To donate one just needs to go to the Donate Now button to the right and put in your personal information along with scrolling down to Click for St. Nick where you can enter the amount you desire to donate: 1 basket $35, 2 baskets $70, 3 baskets $105, etc. We thank you in advance for your willingness to partner with us this year in giving a basket of hope to those who are living right on the edge with no safety net. 

Why Does the Christmas Season invoke in us the Spirit of Giving? (4-28-2013)

Today as I passed this families weekly laundry hanging on the barbwire  out front of their small simple house, the question came to my mind as to why it is that Christmas invokes the spirit of giving in us  but then after the holidays it seems to vanish and we then go back to our routine of it not crossing our minds?

It’s interesting, because at this time of year so many people have made comments to me about the joy they feel in getting involved and helping the destitute at Christmas.  Maybe this Christmas you can become more involved with planting seeds of righteousness in the lives of the intercity poor in Tegucigalpa through our Click for St. Nick program.  I will begin posting ideas of how we can get started.  You too, no doubt, have many great ideas as to how we can get more people involved this year.  Can you post them here please.  I am asking for your help. In closing I should add that the car in the picture hasn’t run in years but it does give some status to the family to have it in the front yard.

Joyfully,

Mateo

The Early Morning Routines that causes one to think? (1-30-2013)

My early morning routines in Tegus

Each of us have our early morning routines before going to work or whatever our day has in store for us.  Several of my early morning routines here in Tegus are to make my early morning cup of English breakfast tea with cardamom and honey.  I can’t get my day going without my chai that I make from scratch each morning.  With my Chai in hand I spend some time reading the scriptures and praying and often times it might be for you the reader of this article.   Also twice each week my responsibility is to put out the garage before the truck comes.

This morning was no different as I went early to put out our biweekly garbage for the truck that was going to pass by later.  Once I opened the gate I came face to face with an older man eating food out of some of the other plastic bags that had been placed there by others.  My heart was so touched and a verse that I had posted just the other day on Facebook (SOR Mission At Work) came to my mind that says that “they who give to the poor will lack nothing, but they who close their eyes or turns their back on these needs will bring upon themselves many curses.”   Proverbs 28:27.

For me these curses can be the absence of joy and a deep sense of how important my life is in helping others with a simple hand up in life.  In spending my career in helping others through a number of non profits including starting SOR Mission in the 80’s I have found that I have never lacked.  I might be considered a bit frugal at times but yet God always provides for my needs.  Those curses mentioned in this verse haven’t come my way.  Life has truly been a blessing to me.  Each day I thank God for the opportunity of a new day because as Lamentations 3:23 says, “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassion never fails.  They are new every morning, great is your faithfulness.” This passage goes on and I might suggest reading further in chapter 3 of Lamentations if you have some time.

This man as well as the children we meet everyday  deserve to have a hand extended to him in some tangible way.  I will prepare something to give him next time I see him doing my early morning routines.

Another idea in passing is that maybe some of us might want to make “Click for St. Nick” a monthly commitment and priority.  At our online giving site you can make a monthly commitment that you won’t forget.  Your monthly gift of $10 or $25 won’t be missed for sure and you can have that deep satisfaction in knowing that your gift is directly helping someone made in God’s image with a hand up.  Let’s rally together to help improve the lives of some of these hurting people.   Can we extend Christmas?   If you should so desire, go to our donate now site on this page.

Some further reading on our site will be to read about Alex’s latest post at http://sormission.org/mercy.

Have a blessed day as we seek to help someone’s life today!

Joyfully written,

Mateo

(Results of the  Click for St. Nick Campaign(01-14-13)

Our Click for St. Nick Campaign has been received very well by those who have been presented with what the campaign intends to accomplish this month for those  very needy families living  in the poor “colonias” of Tegucigalpa, Honduras. These are the unemployed, underemployed and also those who are not able to work.  In Honduras the safety net does not exist and those without food and assistance go without or often times turn to alternative life styles that destroy what little self esteem they are left with.

We will be providing a basic food basket (see picture below)  comprising of needed staple food items for a Honduran family.  In addition we will purchase and include a table setting for four which will include plates, bowls, glasses and silverware as we have found that many of these families don’t even have enough kitchen utensils to give to each family member.   All of  these items  can be purchased by you for a cost of  $35 per basket.  We’re asking our readers to go to donate now for your safe online donation using your credit card or an ACH transfer.  If you should choose to use PayPal you can use sormission@gmail as our address on this site.

We will start delivery of these baskets on Friday, December 14th.  We hope to personally deliver  as many of these baskets as time permits.  We will have individuals from these areas accompany us to distribute the baskets to these people.   At each home we will read a short Christmas story and then pray a blessing for the home as we distribute the basket to each family. The family will be followed up by our church family to see how they are doing and to offer assistance as needed.

Please help us by making your secure online donation today.   By helping with your gift of $35 or more or like Bill from Boston, who gave $175 for helping 5 families said, “I’ve been blessed with a good year, its a good time to pay back a little” .  Your gift for the 25^th  will be a great blessing to a very needy family.  If you choose to send a check you can click on “contact us” on the website and there you will find the mission address.  Merely mark it for St. Nick.  Or, you can go to Pay Pal and find us at sormission@gmail  We plan on working through Christmas Day delivering these baskets.

WOW, CHECK OUT THE BASKET OF FOOD WE’RE GIVING TO THE FAMILIES WE HELP 12/05/12

In today’s economy, just how far does our dollar go in buying food for our family and loved ones?  Worldwide there has been a rapid acceleration in the price of food commodities and the country of Honduras is no exception.  Here, the average minimum salary is about $300/month. The price of a bag of beans, a staple item here, is about the same as you would pay in the United States.  Some items are even more expensive than the US, Canada or Europe.  Life is very difficult for so many families that it’s a daily problem that so many face each day.

We will begin distribution within two weeks and so your generous donation is needed today to help us over the top to provide this Christmas Cheer to as many families as we can.  We are organizing and getting ready to distribute these Christmas baskets containing the items shown here.  In addition to these items there will be included a table service for four  seeing many families in these poor areas have very basic kitchen utensils to use for preparing and serving of food.

On behalf of those who aren’t able to thank you personally, thank you so much for caring and helping others to have a better Christmas.  Thank you for helping us to help others this year.   Christmas Blessings!

Please return to read follow up stories and to see pictures of families being helped.  Your on going support is also needed to help us through the year to carry on our programs of mercy and justice.

Thank you so much,

Mateo

 Saturday’s visit to mountainous area above Tegucigalpa to deliver  Baskets of Joy and Encouragement (12-16-2012)

This past Saturday, our mission team comprising of us and several Hondurans, distributed a number of baskets to needy families in this hillside “barrio” above Tegucigalpa.  The hiking into the homes we were going to visit was nothing short of a mountain hike climbing at times 1.5 feet in elevation for every 1.5 we walked.   The trails were not marked and we had to ask at various houses where so and so lived.  They would point up further on the mountain so off we would set once again.

We were able to visit a variety of homes and people from a young blind girl, in this picture with her two young children next to her plus her sister and mother in law.  Also we visited a  grandmother of 83 who walks these trails on dry days going down to the church and local store.

We were able to encourage them with our visit and our Christmas basket of food and the table setting we included.  We read the Christmas story and then prayed a blessing upon each home as well as chatting a bit about life and why we had come. Each family was so encouraged that we look forward to this week’s distribution of more baskets.

In returning down to the main road, the trail was steep and dangerous and of all the people who might fall it was me because I was telling everyone to be careful.  My fall wasn’t too bad because I only ended up with minor scrapes and bruises after my sliding a good number of vertical feet down the slope.  They were all concerned for this missionary but I guess I didn’t do too bad.  God is good!

If you haven’t helped with the purchase of one or more baskets as yet please consider this  an invitation to share with us this gift of grace that we are giving to these families in need.