Give all children the gift of Christmas
THIS week I was helping our youth club wrap shoe boxes with Christmas paper and fill them with gifts for children overseas.
This is for the Operation Christmas Child appeal when thousands of shoe boxes are sent to more than 100 countries to children who might otherwise not experience the wonderful gift of Christmas.
It is a great opportunity for children in this country (many of whom are untouched by the harsher realities of life) to understand that some children have very little indeed.
It may also be a first experience of faith-in-action, of giving to an unknown other or to someone from a very different place and seeking no reward or pay-back. This is a chance to educate our children in the values that most people (of most faiths and beliefs) would want to see as part of our education system: Do to others what you hope they would do for you and share what we have.
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Children who receive the shoe boxes, are also invited to local churches to hear about the good news of Jesus Christ.
Because of this, there are some people who accuse the Christian charities that do this work of manipulation or blackmail.
However, it is important to know that the shoe boxes are not conditional on any response or requirement and the invitation to hear an explanation of the "reason for the season" is offered without manipulation or coercion.
I am saddened that Christianity (like many other faiths and beliefs) has a dark history of abuse and oppression, which people can find it difficult to get beyond.
It is not only about what Christians do but why they do it, which must be weighed in the balance.
When I send my shoe box away I trust that the charity will deal with children sensitively and blamelessly, as I hope I would if I were there to give it to them myself.
Christians believe that the "good news" is the best gift of all and it can only be good news if it is appropriately delivered.
Comments
by robocop1982
Sunday, October 28 2012, 6:05PM
“Just how long are people going to re repeat the same old thing over and over again once a year. It's actually quite interesting ****yzing the results if any. It is beyond the joke. Frankly i find this very disturbing”
by robocop1982
Sunday, October 28 2012, 5:53PM
“i still think we should market mini gliders with turbo fan engines and mass produce them which would make the price drop. A turbo fan engine the size of a mini bucket would be incredibly powerful and the amount of aluminum used to manufacture it would be not very much. coco cola waste aluminium just on cola cans which are benefit nobody and rot teeth. we could run it on hemp bio fuels.”
by blackpot
Sunday, October 28 2012, 6:25AM
“Why send a shoebox thousands of miles when there are just as deserving children living right around the corner?”
by robocop1982
Sunday, October 28 2012, 3:10AM
“you can only market worthless junk if you create a system that will ensure people buy and use this stuff. WIthout this so called xmas idea most of that stuff would not even have any purpose. YOu have to wonder are you a fool for believing in somebody that never existed. WHy should one human being be different to any other. THIs so called jesus is just the name of a huma being. ITs a stupid idea and i cant believe people still get taken in by it. only a fool would allow their mind to become trapped in another persons ideas for ever which is exactly what is happening. These people will be doing this same old thign once a year for the rest of their lives. Everything has limits. Reliving the same old thing over and over again is pointless. Set your mind free from the mind prison”
by robocop1982
Sunday, October 28 2012, 3:02AM
“How come toys r us never marketed turbo fan engine gliders. rolls royce could start making the engines form recycled garbage can aluminium and plastic food trays. I have seen videos on YouTube of other countries in europe where children as young as 11 are allowed to fly gliders on their own by law. Its sad how kids in the uk are treated as invalids simply because of their age. Its age discrimination. children have not enough freedom in the uk from bureaucrats who enjoy wasting their best years away.”
by CharlieDodd
Sunday, October 28 2012, 2:17AM
“..Robocop said- 'im far to smart to believe in such rubbish even when i was a kid'...
What I could never understand as a kid was why the 3 wise men brought Jesus presents of gold, frankincense and myrrh, I'm sure he'd rather have had a Playstation or Dandy and Beano annuals”
by robocop1982
Sunday, October 28 2012, 1:26AM
“xmas is what has created greed and consumerism orientated societies and everybody just thinks they must be like everybody else simply to fit in and do the same. 90 percent of that stuff people buy in those shops is worthless. THe sad thing is all those natural resources could be combined and used to make useful stuff which could allow peopl to travel the world cheaply. FOr example all the aluminium wasted on junk cola cans could be used to make mini turbo fan engines for hang gliders and ultralight aircraft and people could travel far from aluminum that is simply wasted on junk. you never see kids being given turbo fan engines for xmas do you or stuff of such high quality. THey only get the junk thats worthless and the companies need users to use this worthless junk.”
by robocop1982
Sunday, October 28 2012, 1:18AM
“also there is no such things as Christians only human beings. People even become brainwashed into thinking they are a christian. Who on earth brainwashed them? THey are nothing more than humans.”
by robocop1982
Sunday, October 28 2012, 1:15AM
“give people gifts every day. why wait until the end of the the year. Nobody wants to wait. AS a kid i would never wait untill xmas for things not that i believe that such a thing ever existed or does exist as im far to smart to believe in such rubbish even when i was a kid. TO me as a kid i always thought that allowing your mind to become trapped in another persons idea will lead to bitter disappointment. THe fact is there is no such thing as xmas and it only exists in the mind and that is all that makes people think it is real. Its a jedi mind trick. WHy let your mind become trapped or engrossed in another idea somebody else thought of which in actual fact does not even exist. THe fact people do the same old thing over and over is not good. WHy do people follow in the footsteps of sombody elses idea which does not even exist. Lying to your kids about sanata claus is foolish and makes them stupid. Stop following others with this rediculous fantasy. Millions of people become trapped in this fantasy which doesn't even exist yet their minds make them think it is real or actually exists. Look around there is no such thing as xmas. I don't care this government have made innocent people suffer and go without things.”
by CharlieDodd
Saturday, October 27 2012, 11:14PM
“..Louis said- 'This shoebox thing has to be the most insanely inefficient way of giving to charity ever devised'..
It sounds okay to me, much better than sending money to big charities where most of it ends up in the bosses pockets or is siphoned off at the other end by warlords to buy guns..;)
I've been a volunteer at big charities in the past and could tell you stories of inefficiency you wouldn't believe!”