20 December 2025

I have a book called, ‘Refuge’, a place of safety. It features Mary and Joseph and the Christchild. They are making their escape from the wicked King Herod. The book has been written from the point of view of the donkey for 3-7 year olds.

I bought it in 2015. Underneath the title, there is a sticker. On it, there is the logo for ‘War Child’. Round the sticker  it says, ‘£5 from the sale of this book will go direct to War Child’.

This book has just been reissued to celebrate its tenth anniversary. Although the book is  more expensive and the logo is just the same, it says that ‘£1 from the sale of this book will go direct to War Child’. Today,  there is even greater need.

‘War Child’ is  ensuring a safe future for every child affected by war. Over 3.7 million children in Ukraine are internally displaced. Over 6.3 million children live in other countries as refugees.

In Gaza, over 42,000 children are injured, 21,000 have been left permanently disabled and 17,000 are orphaned or separated from parents or care-givers who are killed, missing or detained.

The baby who was laid in the manger was a homeless stranger in his birth. The cruelty of a tyrant caused his parents to flee into nearby Egypt to seek refuge. They were refugees. Right from the start, Jesus is our Emmanuel, God with us!