Edited and formatted for web readability.

A Christmas Miracle Deep in the Heart of Africa

If we stop for a moment from the hustle, shopping, empty glitter, and endless activities that define the holiday season, we may remember what Christmas is about: hope, peace, joy, and love. These themes are symbolized by the four Advent wreath candles, lit one by one each Sunday leading up to Christmas Eve.

Hope and peace are scarce commodities today. Joy—and especially actions rooted in love—are needed even more, not only in the United States but across the world.

Hope Behind Prison Walls in Rwanda

A Christmas miracle is unfolding in the heart of Africa, on a continent still facing poverty, hunger, and health crises—often intensified by conflict, poor governance, and climate change. This miracle is taking place in Rwanda, a small progressive country just south of the equator in the fertile highlands of East Africa often called “The Land of Eternal Spring.”

It is happening among incarcerated people—individuals who are often forgotten and who struggle to survive in conditions marked by both outer and inner darkness.

A Ministry of Presence and Practical Care

At the center of this outreach is the Rev. Pius Nyakayiro, executive director of Good News Rwanda, a nonprofit organization with prison chaplains and volunteers who have worked in prison outreach and reform across Rwanda’s 13 prisons.

This year, Nyakayiro and his team are undertaking a special Christmas mission to Rwanda’s two main women’s prisons:

• Ngoma Women’s Correctional Facility (1,142 women and 91 children)
• Musanze Correctional Facility (974 women and 105 children)

Why are children in prison with their mothers?

In Rwanda, children born in prison may stay with their mothers for the first three years of their lives. After that, the hope is that family members will take responsibility for their care.

“We Want Them to Know They Are Not Forgotten”

Nyakayiro explains that the Christmas outreach is designed to bring hope, dignity, and the love of Christ to some of the most vulnerable people incarcerated in Rwanda—elderly inmates, individuals who receive no family visits, and mothers raising young children inside prison walls.

Many of the children have never received a Christmas gift. Many of the women have not felt remembered for years.

What the Hope Packs Provide

The team plans to distribute 2,300 Hope Packs with practical essentials and child-focused items, including:

• For women: sugar, soap, toothpaste and toothbrushes, skin lotion, menstrual pads
• For children: biscuits, soft drinks, balls, toys, footwear, milk

Alongside these gifts, the outreach carries a Gospel-centered message of hope—reminding recipients that God sees them, loves them, and has not forgotten them.

Children’s Rights and Shared Responsibility

This effort is organized in cooperation with the Rwandan Correctional Services and the National Commission for Children (NCC). Francois Bisengimana, director of Adoption Protection and Promotion of Child Rights for the NCC, noted that the outreach is more than a holiday greeting—it is a reminder of a fundamental responsibility to protect and promote children’s rights.

In the United States, children’s rights are protected under legal frameworks grounded in core principles such as the right to education, protection from abuse and neglect, access to health care, and ensuring a child’s best interests in legal proceedings.

Love of Neighbor in an Interconnected World

In an interconnected world, we are all, in principle, co-responsible for injustices next door or halfway around the world. This echoes Jesus’s commandment in Mark 12:30–31 to “love your neighbor as yourself.”

Nyakayiro’s outreach also demonstrates how local churches can be engaged in meaningful social justice action. With a budget of about $25,000, this project offers an opportunity for American faith organizations to become partners in direct, practical support—especially as foreign aid programs have been canceled under the current government.

The Miracle of Reciprocal Love

On a spiritual level, the image of imprisoned women and their children receiving Christmas gift packages is a miracle of love extending from giver to receiver. Yet an often overlooked part of this miracle is the gratitude that flows back—an exchange that demonstrates a spiritual law: what is given in love returns in love.

This “reciprocal love exchange” is visible in other contexts as well, including New York State’s Adopt-a-Prison (AAP) program initiated by the Interfaith Prison Partnership (IPP) at Taconic and Bedford Hills women’s correctional facilities.

In a recent article in Corrections Today, New York’s Department of Corrections and Community Supervision commissioner Daniel Martuscello reflected on the impact of AAP, emphasizing that working together toward a common goal can create meaningful outreach and safer communities.

We should not be surprised that it works. It is the great universal love command in action. May we all learn to do likewise.

---

Frequently Asked Questions

Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) Snippet

What is the “Christmas miracle” described in Rwanda?

A prison ministry is delivering Hope Packs and Gospel-centered encouragement to incarcerated women and children in Rwanda, restoring dignity and hope during Advent.

Why are children in prison with their mothers in Rwanda?

Children born in prison may stay with their mothers for the first three years of life, after which family members are encouraged to care for them.

What is included in the Hope Packs?

Hope Packs include essentials such as sugar, soap, toothpaste and toothbrushes, skin lotion, menstrual pads for women, and food, toys, footwear, and milk for children.

How can faith communities support the project?

The outreach has an estimated budget of about $25,000 and invites partnership from faith organizations to sustain direct, community-rooted support.

---

Author: The Rev. Dr. Hans Hallundbaek

Source: Presbyterian News Service (Dec. 15, 2025). Reformatted and optimized for digital publication.