Christmas 2025

12/23/2025

a greeting from the Executive Director of Week of Compassion

Dear Disciples,

As we arrive at these final days before Christmas – when candles burn low, travel settles in, and communities pause to breathe after a long year – I find myself returning to the heart of this season: God draws near to us in love.

This truth feels especially profound as we look back on 2025.

photo credits: Paul Jeffrey (Lebanon, Nepal, Sudan) and Dimitry Motinov (Kyrgystan) via ACT Alliance

It has been a year marked by devastation for so many around the world: storms and floods that reshaped neighborhoods across Texas and California; fires that swept through communities in New Mexico and Montana; the long arc of recovery in places like Jamaica, the Philippines, Sierra Leone, and Sudan; the ongoing struggles of families displaced by conflict and disaster.

And yet, in every place of hardship, we also witnessed something unmistakable: Emmanuel – God with us – taking flesh through your compassion.

We saw this in local partners who carried their communities long after the headlines faded, trusting their own wisdom and leadership in the face of uncertainty. We saw it in congregations who opened their doors and their hearts, choosing generosity even amid their own challenges. We saw it in young people stepping into mission and justice work; in families rebuilding not only homes but hope; in the resilience of farmers, mothers, elders, and children who refused to let catastrophe have the final word.

This is the miracle at the center of Christmas: that God does not wait for the world to be tidy, peaceful, or ready. God arrives in vulnerability, in the margins, in places where the night feels long. And through your prayers and gifts, Week of Compassion has been able to embody that nearness – standing with communities in disaster, supporting refugees finding safety, investing in long-term recovery, and strengthening local leadership that will carry into the years ahead.

As I reflect on this ministry in 2025, I am struck by how often your compassion became a light for someone who feared theirs had gone out. Your generosity has been a steady witness to connection, integrity, and accompaniment in a world that too often feels fragmented.

In these holy days, as your homes fill with the sound of familiar hymns and the warmth of loved ones, I pray that Christ’s peace will surround you. And as we turn toward a new year, may we continue to prepare room – within our lives, our churches, and our communities – for the hope that transforms and the light that never fails.

Thank you for the countless ways you have shared compassion this year. Thank you for believing that, even in the hardest places, love still takes root.

Christmas blessings and deep gratitude,