Christmas Boxes!

Many of you have written us at some time or another wanting to know if you could help our family and the ministry here as we share the gospel.
This Christmas, we would like to reach out to the families of our town by giving their children a shoebox full of special treats. We will include a gospel tract and portion of God’s Word with each box. Our hope is that these gifts will not only bring happiness to each one that receives them, but that they will give us an opportunity to share with them where true joy come from...knowing the Savior Jesus Christ!
We did this a couple of years ago and it was a tremendous blessing to the people as we gave out over 240 boxes. We would love to be able to hand out 200 boxes this year as well.
I remember, as a child, putting together a shoebox to send to children for Christmas in another country as it was a ministry through our local church. What fun we all had saving our pennies and then (with some help from dad and mom) going to the store to pick out the perfect treats. We always prayed for the child who would be receiving our box, and only eternity will tell how those small gifts may have been used to soften a child’s heart towards Christ.
So this year, we would like to do this for the children of our town. We will pass out whatever boxes we receive and the more the better! And we would love to have your help! If this is something in which you would like to have a part, here are some guidelines:

*Boxes should be shoebox size (you could either send a real shoebox or send a plastic container with a lid that is approximately the same size; the advantage of the plastic container is that the child/family can use it for something later)
*Boxes should be sent to Daniel and Jaynee Lockwood at the field address on the bottom right side bar of this blog; please write “Christmas Shoebox” on the box somewhere as well
*We would like to have all the boxes ready to give out by the beginning of December. Since it takes at least 2 weeks for mail to arrive here, we ask that all boxes be mailed no later than November 15th.
*To make it easier in the distribution, we ask that the boxes contain items that can be used by either a boy or a girl (for example, no pink hair ribbons as a boy would not use those :) ).

Now for the fun part! Ideas of what to include in the boxes:

*Toys: a small stuffed animal, a ball, a yo-yo, whistle, picture book, a puzzle, a game, play dough, coloring book

*School Supplies: pencils, pencil box, crayons, felt markers, stickers, notebook, erasers, pencil sharpener

*Other: American Candy, scarf, a personal letter* or picture drawn for the child, comb or brush, toothbrush

Here are things to NOT include:
*Chocolate or any other food that could melt, make a mess or spoil
*Medicine
*Items that could easily break
*Books or music (other than a note book or coloring book)
*Anything liquid that could spill (bubbles, shampoo, ect...)
*Anything that could be dangerous for a small child (marbles, sharp items ect...)
*Clothing other than maybe a scarf or hat as you don’t know what size the child is that will receive your box

If you have any further questions, feel free to email us (email address at the very bottom of the right side bar). Of course, we plan on taking lots of pictures of the children opening their boxes and will post some on the blog. Wouldn’t it be fun to see a picture of a child opening the box that YOU sent? :)

*Spanish phrases that you could include in a personal note if you would like:

Dios le bendiga– God Bless you
Jesus te ama– Jesus loves you
Feliz Navidad– Merry Christmas
Dios te ama– God love you
Estoy orando por ti– I am praying for you
Con amor de - With love from