By Josie Oldenburg in Kyiv, Ukraine

The Ukrainian children’s cheers bounced around the classroom when Andy and Holly Rist announced that they came bearing a gift: a special candy all the way from America.

The Rists passed out candy canes to each of the children in their son’s second-grade class at their local public school.

“I attached a special card, written in Ukrainian, that tells the gospel story through the candy cane,” Holly said.

• The candy cane is shaped like a shepherd’s staff, because God is our good shepherd who loves us.
• The red represents the blood of Jesus, shed for the forgiveness of our sins.
• The white stripe shows us that if we trust in Jesus, He will wash us clean.
• And if you flip the cane over, it looks like an English letter J, which stands for Jesus.

The card concludes with John 3:16.

“The teacher read the whole thing – even the verse,” Holly said. “And she explained that is doesn’t matter what country you live in or what language you speak, the birthday of Jesus is something to be celebrated.”

The Rist family’s neighbors and shopkeepers in their area also received candy canes.

 “It’s a small thing,” Holly said. “But we pray over it, and we believe that God’s Word never returns void.”