A Christmas Box, A Door to Hope
The Talic family lives in deep poverty in Bosnia and Herzegovina, facing each day without many basic necessities. Through Family Sponsorship and Operation Christmas Love, they receive practical support, hope, and opportunities to hear about the love of Jesus. Discover how a simple Christmas box can make a lasting difference in a family's life.7th October 2026
A Childhood Shaped by Survival
Ten-year-old Emina lives in a world no child should know.
Her home, on the edge of an isolated clearing in Bosnia and Herzegovina, has no running water, electricity, kitchen, or bathroom. When darkness falls, candles become the family's only light. When winter winds blow through the gaps in the walls, seven family members gather around a small wood-burning stove, hoping it will keep them warm enough through the night.
Emina shares one of just two beds with her parents, Adis and Semira, and her four younger siblings. Yet despite the hardship around her, she rarely thinks of herself first.
If she receives a small treat, she shares it. If her parents need help, she helps. If her younger brothers and sisters need caring for, Emina steps in without complaint.
She is only ten years old, but already carries responsibilities far beyond her years.
Life on the Landfill
For Adis and Semira, survival depends on collecting recyclable materials from a nearby landfill.
The income is small, but it is the family's only source of support.
With no one to watch the children, Emina and her siblings often accompany their parents, spending their days among dangerous waste, sharp objects, and unhealthy conditions. It is a difficult life, one that leaves little room for the carefree childhood every child deserves.
Yet amid the struggle, Emina holds tightly to one precious gift: education.
She loves school, works hard, and dreams of a brighter future.
More Than Practical Help
Through Mission Without Borders' Family Sponsorship programme, support has begun reaching the family. Food, hygiene supplies, firewood, school materials, seeds for growing vegetables, and Christmas gifts have all helped ease some of their daily burdens.
But for our team, practical help is only part of the story.
Every visit, every conversation, every act of kindness creates an opportunity to share something even greater: the love of Christ.
“My greatest wish is that they come to believe their story does not have to stay this way – that a different future is possible.”Family Sponsorship Coordinator Senka
Operation Christmas Love
One of the ways that message reaches families like Emina's is through Operation Christmas Love.
Each Christmas box contains essential food, treats, and a message of hope. For a family facing deep poverty, it means relief during the hardest season of the year.
But it also opens a door to share the Gospel.
Through these gifts, families experience Christian love in a tangible way. They see that someone cares. They hear that they have not been forgotten. Most importantly, they are introduced to the One whose love inspired the gift in the first place.
This Christmas, you can help bring both practical support and the message of Christ to families like Emina's.
A Christmas box may seem simple, but in God's hands, it can become a powerful reminder that brighter days are possible and that true hope is found in Him.
