I just wanted to share this with all of you… For those of you who don’t know, I am a Sunday School teacher at St John’s Anglican Cathedral, in Bulawayo (that’s in Zimbabwe). (The story of how I came back to the Anglican Church- even though I am a charismatic Christian- is a lengthy one- so ask me later).

Today was Christmas day- or, rather, Boxing Day- for my kids. Samaritan’s Purse apparently coordinates the collection of gifts from various churches and individuals in the United States, and their delivery to needy kids in other parts of the world. For the first time, I truly appreciate, from deep down in my heart, what an important job this is. Maybe it’s because of how tough things have been in Zimbabwe lately- so many families are in trouble, and this has been a particularly tough year financially. So many people have been impoverished by our current problems… And my heart has been for the kids in particular. Zimbabwean parents are a proud crowd; a parent would rather do without, than let their child go to school with a torn uniform, without shoes, without some kind of “tuck”- but that’s exactly what’s been happening. Never mind that there is now a generation of children who probably don’t know what ice cream tastes like. A young life’s little pleasures are pretty hard to come by in today’s Zimbabwe. I guess that’s why the Christmas boxes we got from Samaritan’s Purse (and gave to the kids today) were so very welcome. The sort of stuff in them is the stuff all kids dream of- extra-bouncy balls, sweets, Slinky’s (what is the plural for that??), cars, dolls, pencils, notebooks, glitter glue, etc etc… So very cute. Also some practical things: toothbrushes, combs, toothpaste, soap, the like. Every box packed with such love… And my kids went wild (not, please, that these are not even strictly under-privileged, by Zim standards). These were such precious, precious gifts.

If you have ever given to Samaritan’s Purse (or wiki here): THANK YOU, from the bottom of my heart. God bless you a thousandfold. If you have ever considered giving (to Samaritan’s Purse, or a similar organization), please know that these things really do make a difference. It’s not just food and clean water (two of my passions, where donor funding is concerned) that kids need; I had never really thought about it, but seeing the joy in these kids’ eyes was something to behold, indeed!