MCJOYFUL CHRISTMAS

On a cold December day in 2001, Ed Dickson was working with the orphanages in Ukraine and wondering, "What am I going to do for Christmas". That is exactly when he got an idea that changed everything for the orphans idea of Christmas.

In the last few years, McDonalds has opened a number of flashy new restaurants in the former Soviet Union. In the city of Krivoy Rog, Ukraine, the McDonalds is the place where the "elite" folks eat! Poor folks and certainly the orphans in the city only dream of being able to enter the golden arches.

That cold December day, Ed Dickson thought, "Why not take as many orphans as I can to McDonalds for a Christmas party?" What a thrill that was! The first Christmas there were 46 orphans, who had, of course, never been to a McDonalds before, taken out for the time of their lives!

The kids were so excited they were shaking in their seats as they waited for their Happy Meals! After the kids finished eating they put their cups, straws and wrappers into their bags to take back to the orphanage with them. I watched in amazement as they even folded up the little paper placemats.

As I was busy getting the kids to the bus, Olya, one of our workers came to me saying, "Ed, these two little girls have something to say to you." I thought they were going to thank me for the special meal and I didn't want then to say that because I wanted the kids to know that this was all done because GOD loves them. Then the two little girls looked up at me shyly and said, "We just want you to know that we had been praying together that God would allow us, somehow, to go to McDonalds someday."