Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells

Yes, I know it's still September, but we've begun thinking about Christmas already, and we would love for you to do the same. Our annual Christmas outreach at Kilometer 33 will be held on Saturday, December 15th, and we are in the planning stages for our toy drive.

Over the past five years, we've seen the smiles on thousands of children's faces as they received what was for most of them the only Christmas presents they would be given, and we've also seen the smiles on the thousands of people who have taken part in this exercise of generosity and love to a child in a poverty-stricken environment. I'm truly not sure who is more blessed as a result of this act of kindness, the giver or the recipient.

We've had family after family come up and tell us the joy they experienced in taking the focus off themselves and their children during this season and shopping for someone else as a family, putting feet to their faith and loving the least of these in Christ's name. This is truly a way to underscore to our children that Christmas is about giving, not about getting, and that loving others through giving to them demonstrates the love God showed to us in sending Christ for our salvation.

The concept is simple - we ask people to fill a bag or a shoebox with gifts for a girl or boy in Mexico. The cost doesn't have to be exorbitant, but we do ask that you spend at least $10 on one of the gifts that will be included, reaffirming the message that we teach these kids all year round, that they are of value to God. The box can contain all sorts of little items in addition to this gift - crayons, pencils, toothbrushes and toothpaste, Barbies, action figures, balls, costume jewelry - anything that would bring a smile to a child's face.

We collect these toys for three weekends, November 25th, December 2nd, and December 9th. The toys are then shipped to Juarez, where we spend several days organizing the gifts into age- and gender-appropriate categories, and they are given out as part of our Christmas outreach event on Saturday, December 15th. We have a large group of medical and dental professionals who come along on this trip and provide clinics free of charge for several days surrounding the outreach event, and we provide food, fun and gifts for the kids in the community, but the most important factor of this entire outreach is to share the gospel with these kids and their parents that attend. Each year, we see God move in marvelous ways, and hearts are opened to Him and respond in surrender to His call on their lives.

We want to open up this opportunity on a grass-roots level to anyone that wants to take part in this outreach. If you are interested in presenting this opportunity to your church, small group, Bible study, or even your work place, please let us know and we will be happy to supply you with information that you can pass along. We know that others are blessed as they give, so we make no apology for asking people to be involved in this very hands-on way of being Jesus' hands and feet to others who are in need.