Spirit of giving comes alive this Christmas in Jamshedpur

Churches to spread cheer among needy  

Jamshedpur, Dec 21: Come Christmas, the city is swept up in the spirit of sharing and goodwill. Decoration of various churches began to ensure that the faithful  enjoyed the celebrations. Almost all the churches in the city will start their first prayer service between 11 pm- 11:30 pm on December 24 night. The St. Joseph’s Cathedral in Golmuri, the biggest church, is expected to have a crowd of 2000 people attending the midnight mass.  There are  seven Roman Catholic churches in the city are -Bistupur, Golmuri, Telco, Sonari, Parsudih, Kitadih and Mango. The total number of churches in the city is 26.

For many churches, Christmas celebrations and welfare activities go hand in hand. Each member of Bistupur-based St Mary’s Church will pool in items to be donated to the poor. “It’s not a one day drive. We have been organising it for the past 10 days. Anybody can come and donate clothes, foodgrains, shoes and whatever they wish to for the poor. There are some members of the church who look into this philanthropic work. In fact donations can continue till New Year,” said an official of the Catholic Diocese of Jamshedpur, specifically speaking of the St. Mary’s Church in Bistupur.

Emmanuel Baptist Church at Sitaramdera will observe the festival with social work too. The members of the church this year have decided to donate clothes to about 100 poor people situated in Loco Colony under Tatanagar Railway station. They will also distribute sweets.

“We have about 100 names that we have collected clothes for. Since Christmas is beyond fun, food, parties and Santa, we prefer to do some philanthropic work for those in need. We prefer to make the festival better for them too,” said Samuel Mahapatra, secretary of Emmanuel Baptist Church, Sitaramdera.

Philanthropy is not the only thing when it comes to Christmas. The market is flooded with gifts this season. What’s most common are musical Santa and toys available between a range of Rs 149 to Rs 349, Christmas trees starting from Rs 59 to Rs 7000, Christ and Mother Mary mementoes or showpieces starting from 399. Crib sets ranging between Rs 600 and Rs 750 are being sold as Christmas gifts. Also there is a Christmas fountain of Rs 1500. Christmas lamps are also on sale at Rs 125.

The Jamshedpur United Christians Forum (JUCF) has planned to make Santa Claus spread the message of prevention from Dengue and Malaria. “We have been working in this area for the last several months and as a token gesture we could involve Santa Claus as a special messenger during this Christmas,” said Jonathan Mohapatra, general secretary, JUCF.

A member of the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) said that in the changed scenario the role of Santa Claus should be amended in accordance with the requirement and demand of the time. “The society at large is confronting various problems at different streams and there is no harm in employing Santa Claus for a greater cause,” said the YMCA member.