A Global Advent: 25 Stories of God With Us Around the WorldSample

What does Christmas really mean to you?

Though a global holiday, this season signifies so much more to us as believers. It’s when we celebrate that our Saviour put on flesh and came into this world. While it’s a wonderful time of joy and excitement, it should also be a time for reflection and thanksgiving.

Born and raised in Lome, Togo, 20-year-old Yves’ early years were filled with all kinds of hardships.

Growing up in poverty with an abusive father, childhood was by no means easy for Yves and his brother, Mawuli. In search of an escape from their hardships, Yves and his brother turned to drugs. This is just one of the risks that children living in poverty face when options are few.

But God always makes a way. Love always finds a way. Just when young Yves was at the brink of malnutrition, his family was visited by their local church and immediately registered at the Compassion centre.

There, Yves began to learn about God’s love. A kind of love he had never known. One not simply expressed in words, but the kind of love that gives.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

These were the powerful words that lit up young Yves’ face when he first heard them at the Compassion centre. Yves gave his life to Jesus, and everything changed.

Photo Caption: Yves and his centre director and spiritual mentor, Edem.

The more he learned about God and the Bible, the more Yves hungered for more. Soon enough, Edem, the centre director, started to spend more time discipling him through the Word of God and prayer.

“In his school, where I teach as an art professor, all his peers call him ‘Pastor’. Yves’s impact on youth is significant,” says Edem.

On Compassion Sunday and the Christmas celebration at the centre, Yves was appointed to preach and lead. Edem’s commitment to Yves’s spiritual growth continues to spur him on.

Yves’ story is a reminder that Jesus transforms our past into His message of hope for others. Take some time to reflect on His saving grace today. How can you share your story of redemption with someone?