The Littlest Camel
An ancient legend can help us connect to modern-day children in need around the world. The Littlest Camel brings treats to Syrian children on the Feast of the Epiphany, which is when they celebrate Christmas in the Eastern Orthodox tradition. Here's why it's a camel:
During the first Christmas, long ago, three kings saw a special star in the East and followed it a long, long, long way to look for a newborn king. They traveled through the desert, riding on camels, with extra camels carrying their stuff. They carried tents for camping along the way, and all the food the kings needed, and their water (you need lots of water in the desert), and their fancy king clothes, and the gifts they were bringing for the baby.
The littlest camel in their caravan was chosen to carry the gifts, but he was so tiny and had to work so hard to carry such a heavy load that the bigger, stronger camels told him to give up and stay behind. They said they could carry his pack for him. But the littlest camel kept going and kept going, even though his little legs were so tired from running to keep up with the big camels, because he knew his job was very important.
When the kings and the camels finally arrived at the stable, the littlest camel fell to his knees and collapsed with exhaustion. He fell right asleep, and we all know how adorable sleeping animals are. Awwwww!
Because the little camel never gave up, the Baby Jesus blessed him with immortality. Every year since then, the littlest camel brings candy and sweet treats to the children of Syria on the night before Epiphany. The Littlest Camel has to work extra hard this year to find the refugee children wherever they are and bring them their gifts, but we know he will never give up.
Each year, I try to make the Ocracoke Community Christmas Concert a charitable event, as well as a festive good time for all. Admission is a donation for the food pantry, and there's always a bake sale. This season was Ocracoke School's 4th graders' turn to raise over $400 for their spring field trip to Raleigh, NC and Williamsburg, VA. In years past, Ocracoke Child Care and/or other teachers and classes at Ocracoke School have had the opportunity to sell some Christmas cookies and cupcakes.
Two years ago, we had a special fundraiser to help people in the Philippines after the typhoon. We sold plain old Ocracoke tap water to remind people that clean, plentiful, drinking water should never be taken for granted. We also sold traditional Philippines star ornaments called parols, made by Caroline Temple and Cecelia Carter. The 2nd grade class and their teacher, Claudia Lewis, also donated half of their bake sale earnings that year. The fundraiser made $700, which was donated to Child Fund International. Former Ocracoke resident Warner Passanisi works for Child Fund, and he gave me a firsthand account of the good work they were doing for children after the typhoon.
This year, our fundraiser is helping Syrian refugee children who do not have a home this Christmas. Millions of people have had to leave their war-torn country and make a long, dangerous journey to find a new place to live. The money will go to the United Methodist Committee on Relief to help Syrian refugee families in Europe.
I was thinking about how we could help these families, and I started wondering about what Christmas was like in Syria. I love learning about Christmas traditions in other countries, so I did some research and learned the story of the littlest camel.
When my daughter Caroline was a little girl, she loved camels, so we’ve always had lots of cute camel Christmas decorations, and we always think we need more. A quick look at Pinterest and I found an easy camel ornament that we could make using handprints from kids. The 4th graders made two handprint camels each to donate to the cause, adding their own creative embellishments. Juju Baker and Jetta Brown helped by getting handprints for me from the young kids they care for.
With markers, scissors, ribbon, and some help from Caroline, the handprints became camels – if you use your imagination.
At the Community Christmas Concert, I shared the story of the Littlest Camel and Caroline collected donations for the handprints. We took the leftovers to the Methodist Church and added them to the beautiful Christmas tree in the sancutuary. Over the past two Sundays and at the Joyful Band of Singers concert, Pastor Richard Bryant has shared the story of the camels, and continued to offer them for a donation of any amount. So far, they've raised over $550!
There are still a few camels left. You can take one home, too! Stop by the church anytime to make a donation. (Checks can be made payable to UMCOR.) We would love to match or exceed the amount the Ocracoke community sent to the Philippines in 2013.
You may even see the Littlest Camel at the Christmas Eve pageant. It starts at 7pm, just after the Live Nativity from 5:30-6:30pm.
