Welcome! Nuestra Casa Es Su Casa ...Our house is your house

A glimpse into the life of Daniel and Jaynee Lockwood and their 12 precious blessings. Thank you for visiting; we pray that what we share here may always bring glory to our wonderful God and Saviour. May you praise the Lord with us for the great things He has done and continues to do as we serve Him sharing the gospel here in the little town of Cuidad Insurgentes, BCS Mexico. He alone is good and faithful!

Tuesday, October 05, 2010

Christmas Box Time- And with USA Shipping this year!


I love October!  School is well underway, it's officially autumn, and while here in the Southern Baja desert, we don't exactly see cool days, or  brightly colored, falling leaves, just knowing that it's a new season brings much excitement around our house.  The children color paper leaves to paste to our windows, Timothy counts down the days until his birthday,  and we plan some fun evening activities, special foods, and crafts.
But one of the most exciting things is knowing that it is again time to share about the
Christmas Box Ministry!
Some of you have already written and asked about the plans for this year.  Some of you may have participated in the past.  Some of you may have wanted to participate, but were unable. And some of you may have not yet heard about this opportunity.
This post is for all of you!

For the past three Christmases, we have been able to bless a number of children in our town and the surrounding ranches with a special gift from many of you. What a joy it has been to not only give these children a shoe box or bag filled with wonderful treats, but by being a blessing in this way to their families, have an open door to share with them about the One who gave us the greatest gift of all! 

This Christmas, we would again like to reach out to the families of our town by giving their children a Christmas Box. We want to not only show them the love of the Saviour through this tangible way, but go back and tell them the wonderous gospel that so many have still never heard.

Each time we have done this, it has been a tremendous blessing to the people. We've been able to hand out between 50 and 200 boxes each year!  Every box that we receive is placed into the hands of a Mexican boy or girl. For many of them, it will be the only Christmas gift they will receive.

This year, we are so excited to be able to give you a USA address to which to ship the boxes.  Daniel's brother Philip and his wife Kayleen live just a few miles north of the Mexican border, and they are willing to receive the boxes and store them in their apartment.  We will then make a quick trip north with our covered trailer to pick them up sometime in mid December.  
I know the cost of shipping to us here in Mexico is so expensive and while we have been so blessed by the sacrifice of so many in years past to send the boxes here, we are excited to be able to offer USA shipping which may enable more to take part in giving.
Keep on reading to find the shipping address!

 We will pass out whatever boxes we receive and the more the better! And we would love to have your help! It is truly more blessed to give than receive! 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)

*For Shipping Purposes, some people prefer to send a bag. Each year we handed out backpacks, paper gift bags (which were protected by being wrapped in plastic wrap so they wouldn't break open in shipping), and cloth hand bags as well. When we were up north, our girls were given some cloth hand bags for their birthdays that were purchased at the dollar store.

*Some years we had  people send a large quantity of an item(s) to be handed out with or in addition to the boxes (we've received Spanish New Testaments, Spanish Christmas Coloring Books, Stuffed Animals, Blankets/quilts, hats). If you are interested in sending something like that, just email us and let us know! :)

*Boxes should be sent to:
Daniel and Jaynee Lockwood
 c/o Philip and Kayleen Lockwood
9494 Carroll Canyon Road #41
San Diego, CA  92126


*We would like to have all the boxes ready to give out a week before Christmas. Please have all boxes sent with enough time for us to pick them up by the 14th. 

*If you would like to specify "Christmas Box for a Boy" or "Christmas Box for a Girl", please mark that somewhere on the package.  We will be handing them out to children of all ages, so variety is welcome!

Now for the fun part! Ideas of what to include in the boxes!
If you are on a tight budget and would like to give, please know that anything will be appreciated.  The children here do not have much at all and even small treats mean so much.  If you have a dollar store or the like in your area, that would be a great place to go!
*Toys: a small stuffed animal, a ball, a yo-yo, whistle, picture book, a puzzle, a game, play dough, coloring book etc...

*School Supplies: pencils, pencil box, crayons, felt markers, stickers, notebook, erasers, pencil sharpener, glue etc...
*Toiletries:  soap, toothbrush, toothpaste, comb or brush, wash cloth, floss, etc...
*Other: American Candy, scarf, a personal letter* or picture drawn for the child, comb or brush, toothbrush, craft, stickers, etc...
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 loves you

Estoy orando por ti– I am praying for you

Con amor de - With love from  

16 comments:

  1. Thank you for posting the details!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh, I can't wait! I love Christmas Boxes - I will go shopping this weekend and get things ready to send! So happy to be a part of this ministry!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hope to send some out to you.My children did some boxes for Africa two years ago. They loved picking everything out for them. It also taught them how to give to someone else.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I would love to do this! I was wondering if they would need anything like a toothbrush, washcloth, toothpaste, or bar soap??
    Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Yes, Abigail...any of those things would be great! I added "toiletries" to the list of suggestions! Great idea!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I would love to participate in your Christmas Box Ministry.

    I was wondering if would be OK to specify on the box "teen girl" or "very young boy", etc, just so the boxes could be more suited for who receives them? And would the girls like hair accessories? And are well handmade toys(such as dolls or animals) OK? Also, I know you said shoebox size, but the post office has those $4.95 flat rate boxes, and from Maine to California, I could afford to send more if I used those ones, would that be alright?
    Sorry to bombard you with so many questions.

    Tiff

    ReplyDelete
  7. Dear Tiff,
    The flat rate boxes will be fine! I'm just wanting everything to be about the same size. If you specify, we will make sure to get those boxes to the appropriate individual.
    The girls would love hair accessories or handmade things...anything would be loved I'm sure!
    Thank you so much!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I am so excited about this.I was not able to do it last year.I would like to do a couple this year.I am going to have to look at those 4.95 flat rate boxes to see the size of them.It is such a wonderful thing you all do for the children.

    Mrs. Paradis

    ReplyDelete
  9. Wow, that's great that you're doing that. The U.S shipping address will help and save tremendously!

    Thanks for the info!

    ReplyDelete
  10. I would love to do this , just wanted to ask if you provide the NT bibles with every box ? thanks...

    ReplyDelete
  11. Dawn,
    Only one year did we give out NT's with every box as we'd had several Bibles given to us at that time.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Janie,
    I have been praying for you. Hope you are on the mend.
    I was so excited about the USA shipping. I presented the idea of sending our boxes to you to the ladies at church and I think that is what they want to do.
    Also the pastors wife asked if the mexican children could use dresses like they make for the african children. They call them something like pillow case dresses.
    Our ladies group is looking for projects. Let me know or if you need more information I can answer any questions you have.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Debbie, Thank you for writing! The girls here would love dresses. It is so hot here most of the year and they'd not only be pretty but cool.
    If your ladies group would like to send some down, we will gladly pass them out. :)

    ReplyDelete
  14. Ooh! This sounds exciting! I'll pray about sending one!

    I have a few other shipping tips:

    -Even better than the 4.95 FRB is the 4.90 flat rate envelope not only do you save five cents, but it's more flexible than the box and I've always been able to fit more in it.
    -If most of the items are media materials (coloring books, Bibles, etc), then you can send the box via Media Mail. You can send up to 70 pounds this way and it will cost you less than five bucks.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Just sent a care bag a couple days ago! I was wondering if you were affiliated with a church or nonprofit charity so that I could write it off as a tax donation. If not, no big deal, but I was curious.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Yes, we are affiliated with a non-profit charity, but that only affects monetary gifts. All financial gifts that go through our "Mission Board" will receive a receipt for a tax write off, but the gifts (i.e. Christmas boxes) since they do not go through CMC (Mission board) don't receive that credit. I hope that helps. Daniel

    ReplyDelete

We always LOVE hearing from you! We enjoy getting to know our readers as well. Feel free to email us or comment here and introduce yourself if you haven't already. Have a wonderful day in the Lord! He is so good and faithful!