Blessing The Children In Jesus' Name

In Mexico, kids love to have piñatas at their birthday parties. A piñata is usually made out of paper mache, or cardboard, with bright and colorful decorations, usually in the form of an animal or some popular cartoon character, like Mickey Mouse or Frozen. It is filled with goodies and even fruits and small toys then hung from some place high, like a tree branch. The birthday child is blindfolded first and hits the piñata three times, and then the other invited children also have a turn or two at hitting the piñata until it is cracked open and all the goodies fall out. Then all the children rush in to get a share the goodies. In Mexico, Catholic children often go to church for the first of their two celebrations. The first one is quiet and is for your particular saint, often children are named after their saint. On this day you attend church and a priest blesses you. Then you go home to have the second celebration that includes relatives and close family friends and school mates. Which is the real birthday fiesta we mostly know in the USA.

At Rancho Santa Fe Mexico Mission and in our church, El Camino Agape de San Vicente, we do not observe any saint’s day celebrations. There is no biblical base for us to do so. Las Mañanitas is a traditional Mexican song that is often sung on birthdays and other important holidays. It is often sung as an early morning serenade to wake up a loved one. At birthday parties it is usually sung before the cake is cut. It is a long-standing traditional song which almost everybody knows, only at most Mexican parties only the first two verses are sung. Within our church, at Rancho Santa Fe and with our Bible students, we try to make every birthday celebration a real event, as much as we can, finances allowing. Again, without our help, working among very poor people, most children would not have much of a special day if we could not assist them in making the day unique. And, whenever possible, we combine several birthdays to help us save money and to encourage fellowship among the students and the children. Often, our congregation and students don’t have personal transportation and couldn’t organize a full fiesta on their own. Your help makes these days very distinctive and a real and true blessing for these little children and their families. As we help build up family relationships and friendly ones, we help to build up the family of God. When you do good works, you spread the Gospel. Or, if you like, when you do good works, you do the Gospel. Amen. Matthew 18:3, “And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 19:14, “But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven.” Mark 9:37, “Whosoever shall receive one of such children in my name, receiveth me: and whosoever shall receive me, receiveth not me, but him that sent me.”