🎄 The Greatest Gift We Can Give This Christmas Isn’t Found Under a Tree

What is one of the greatest gifts we can give this Christmas? In A Christmas Carol, there’s a haunting moment when the Ghost of Christmas Present reveals two emaciated children hiding under his robe. They are not spirits—Dickens tells us—they are real, and they represent something far more terrifying than ghosts.

“This boy is Ignorance. This girl is Want. Beware them both… but most of all beware this boy…”

– Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol

Those words were written in 1843, but they still echo loudly today.

In the villages and towns where we serve—Uganda, Pakistan, Nigeria, and beyond—Ignorance and Want are not just metaphors. They are living, breathing realities for far too many children. Girls and boys who don’t get to go to school—not because they’re unwilling, but because their families simply cannot afford the cost of tuition, uniforms, books, or even shoes.

And so these beautiful, eager young souls are left behind.

They are not lazy. They are not unworthy.

They just lack resources. They don’t have the same opportunities available in other parts of the world.

🎁 This Christmas, You Can Change That

While many of us are finishing our shopping lists, wrapping gifts, and planning festive meals, the children we serve are simply hoping they can return to school in January.

They may not receive toys or presents this holiday season…

But you can give them something even more powerful: the gift of education.

Because when a child gets to stay in school:

• They avoid early child labor or marriage

• They are far less likely to fall victim to trafficking

• They gain confidence, opportunity, and a real path out of poverty

• And they come to understand that they matter

📚 Education Is the Christmas Miracle They’re Waiting For

Our nonprofit, Living Hope Educational Enterprises, is working hard to ensure no child is left behind. But we cannot do it alone.

We’ve asked families and caretakers in Uganda and Pakistan to contribute what they can toward school fees—because we believe in dignity and shared responsibility. But many simply cannot make up the difference.

This is where you come in.

For just a fraction of what we spend on holiday gifts or takeout, you can make sure a child (or an entire group of orphans and vulnerable kids) doesn’t have to repeat a grade… or worse, drop out completely.

🕊️ “Are there no prisons? Are there no workhouses?”

These were the infamous words of Ebenezer Scrooge when asked to donate to the less fortunate.

Let’s not make that mistake. Let’s not look away.

Let’s be the ones who give—not out of guilt, but out of hope.

Because we believe every child has potential. And that the greatest gift we can give isn’t found under a tree—it’s found in a classroom.

📲 Here’s How to Help Before the Year Ends

There’s still time to make a tax-deductible donation before December 31st—and change a life forever.

✅ Donate at: https://bit.ly/donate-living-hope-education

Whether you can give $25, $100, or sponsor an entire term of school, your gift matters. Every dollar goes toward helping a child receive the education they deserve.

Thank you for choosing to bring light into the darkness.

Thank you for saying yes to hope.

Thank you for helping us fight “Ignorance and Want” with the most powerful weapon of all: love in action.

Wishing you and your family a Christmas full of peace, gratitude, and purpose.

With hope,

Jenni Wilson

Founder, Living Hope Educational Enterprises

P.S. There’s still time to make your gift count for 2025 taxes—and for a child’s future.

Leave a legacy of learning: consider including Living Hope Educational Enterprises in your estate plans.

Contact us for more information.