Modern ‘nativity’ sets stage for refugee help
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints released a new video this year promoting its humanitarian aid campaign, Light the World with Love.
It has inspired a group of teens in Seguin to help Afghan refugees resettling in San Antonio.
Set to the music of “Angels We Have Heard on High,” the video depicts scenes from everyday life that translate into a modern “nativity.”
There’s the stranger helping a guy whose truck has broken down. It’s nighttime. The driver is trying to take a look under the hood. The stranger turns on his cellphone light, holding it above them.
That’s the star in this nativity. My favorite sequence comes in the final scene. A woman and child are about to walk past a homeless person lying on a park bench. She stops, takes her coat off and covers the sleeping man.
The initiative asks that you “be part of the greatest story ever told.”
Teens at the church’s Seguin Ward were moved.
Here’s where the story gets a predictable Texas twist.
The international campaign raises funds through electronic vending machines called Giving Machines that allow people to swipe a credit card and select an item to give to a charity.
Gifts range from a goat to an eye exam and from a chicken to a textbook.
Seguin didn’t get a Giving Machine. Neither did San Antonio. Nor did Texas.
Only 10 Giving Machines are set up across the United States, although contributions can be made online to the local charities involved in those 10 cities.
Members of the Seguin youth group — including Charlie Taylor, 16, Jordan Johnson, 16, Anthony Buchanan, 18, and Nikolaus Mahlstede, 17 — weren’t satisfied with that.
Armed with power tools, plywood and 2 by 4s, they decided to build a Texas Giving Machine. It stands 8 feet high, 4 feet across, 2 feet deep; sits on wheels; and — again, since this is Texas — already has made appearances in a couple of holiday parades.
“It’s the spirit of Christmas,” said Tim Bird, a small-business owner and bishop of the Seguin Ward, explaining the project. “It’s been incredible.”
Because the church has partnered with Catholic Charities and other local organizations on various projects, the Texas Giving Machine is raising money specifically to provide essential household items for apartments being prepared for Afghan refugees resettling in San Antonio.
They’re part of the modern nativity story, and the name of the project makes that connection.
The Seguin Ward Youth Stable Project has a Facebook page where updates are announced. Its goal was first to provide enough household items for half an apartment. Then the goal was expanded to one apartment.
Bird says the project now has enough to supply 20 apartments and has set a goal of more than 100.
This may be a reflection of youthful exuberance but also of the growth of the Mormon population in the area.
For example, December marks the 100th anniversary of the church’s first congregation in San Antonio, which started with 15 people.
Today, there are about 28,000 members in San Antonio who worship in 25 meetinghouses.
That doesn’t include Seguin, where the story of the Texas Giving Machine began.
The contraption is admittedly not as fancy as its global counterparts. There is no way to swipe your credit card, but you can use your smartphone to scan a QR code for the 72 items on the list.
The codes link to an Amazon.com registry that’s being managed by a sister church group in Georgia, which monitors it and hunts for sales.
A girls’ youth group in the Seguin Ward is involved, too, sorting items arriving from across the country.
The registry lists the most essential items a family will need. The most expensive are beds, the least expensive are bags of clothespins.
When I looked at the registry Friday afternoon, the first item listed was a teapot — an allimportant item, especially for an Afghan family. It costs $14.41.
The machine sits at First United Bank during the day. Items can be dropped off at the bank as well.
Last weekend, the machine made an appearance at the San Antonio Welcome Walk Race in honor of refugees. Mayor Ron Nirenberg talked with Seguin youth about their project.
It’s also where they met a couple of Afghan families, including a widow with seven children that has been living in an apartment with little in it, Bird said.
The group made an “instant connection” with another family and invited its members to a Christmas party. They sat around a bonfire in fellowship.
The bishop paused several times when talking about the youths, overcome with emotion.
“They don’t know the impact they’re having on these families, but they feel it and want to keep going,” he said.
The teens involved may learn more about Afghanistan in the process.
“I think those stories will come later as we connect with the families,” Bird said. “But I don’t think that’s the driver. This group just wants to serve.”
He said others are involved, including people making pillowcases and conducting a toothbrush drive.
After Christmas, Bird thinks the project will receive the larger pieces of furniture needed. Those donations have been lagging.
Together, they’re making real the church’s message of a modern nativity.
They’re getting the stable ready.