Holiday Stories of Giving; History Told Through Candy

December 16, 2012

Decorate a Vet' Helps Military Families on the Holidays

From VOA Learning English, welcome to THIS IS AMERICA in Special English. I’m Christopher Cruise.

And I’m Kelly Jean Kelly. This week on our program, we meet some people bringing Christmas spirit to sailors far from home. We also meet volunteers who are helping veterans celebrate the holiday. And, later, we visit an unusual candy store that sells not just candy, but pieces of history.

Millions of Christians will spend Tuesday with family and friends celebrating the birth of Jesus with songs known as carols, gift giving and meals together. In Texas, members of churches in the Houston area sail up and down the Houston Ship Channel singing carols to workers on ships. The channel is part of one of the busiest seaports in the country, the Port of Houston.

Very few crew members are outside at night, but they can often hear the singing even while working inside. Sometimes, they answer the carolers.

“Merry Christmas!”

Ben Stewart is a Presbyterian pastor.

“We offer our words and ourselves as a gift of peace to the world and a gift of love and a gift of acceptance.”

On this night, some of the seamen later came to a party at the Houston International Seafarers’ Center. Most of them were from the Philippines, Russia and Ukraine.