The Container Is Here

This is a horrible picture. You might say it was an action shot. Jocylyn was so excited about that box of clothes. She was jumping up and down and clapping.

It was hard to get a good picture of this too. There was a lot of movement around that box of clothes.

All the children with lotion

Karen giving Sisi some lotion

The boys on one of the new sofas.

All the children on two sofas.

Our sponsoring congregation, Fairview Heights Church of Christ recently shipped a container. It was unloaded today.

The original goal was to fill this container with backpacks, backpacks that were already loaded with needed school supplies. There were over eight hundred backpacks that were packed by people and churches from California and Colorado, Texas, Mississippi, and Louisiana, Kansas and I am not sure where else. Of course, Illinois. Fairview Heights packed over 500 of those backpacks.

Eight hundred backpacks was not going to come any where close to filling a container. Since a container costs the same to ship whether it has 800 backpacks or completely full, our church went into high gear to figure how to fill this thing. There was furniture for the new dorm and the old house. This many people living in one place is quite hard on sofas and chairs. There was clothes and toys of all kinds. Marc said it will be so much fun to start giving those out in the villages at Christmas.

And then, there was much needed things for Casa de Esperanza Even though Fairview Heights had already done 500 backpacks, they began to buy things for Casa de Esperanza. Things like shampoo, soap, and lotion. Can you imagine how much shampoo is used when there is thirteen girls washing their hair everyday. No matter how much shampoo I buy, we always need some. There were well over 100 bottles, large bottles, of shampoo. Over 500 bars of soap. That will keep everyone clean for a while. The girls, just as most girls do, love lotion. Love to rub it on their legs and arms and hands. It is a luxury we cannot afford. There were boxes and boxes of lotion. The excitement level was off the scale.

Marc had a truck full of the things for Casa. It rolled in the gate during shower time. Oh my goodness. You would have thought Christmas rolled in the gate. Karen was in the bathroom with the girls and she could not imagine what was happening. The kids were jumping up and down and screaming. They were so excited over shampoo, lotion and new furniture. Have you even been excited over shampoo and lotion?

Karen gave each child some lotion. They eagerly rubbed it on their arms and legs and faces.

There was a box of clothes that said young women's clothes -Pamela. There was far more clothes than Pamela needed in that box. Pamela, Linda, Jocylyn, Erica, and even Siomara began to rip into that box. They were holding clothes up and choosing what they wanted. Pamela has lived here long enough that she has seen something like this once in a while. Siomara and her girls have not. They were estatic going through that box of clothes and choosing what they wanted. It was hard to get a good picture because there was so much movement.

Also, among all those things, was a couple of boxes for us. Sweet treats and books and things for our Thanksgiving dinner that we can't buy here. A couple of boxes from our church that said how much they love us. I have almost made myself sick on chocolate covered cashews.

I want to thank Topeka, Overland Park, Borger, Antioch, South Baton Rouge and all the other churches and individuals that sent backpacks. I do not know you all of you are and am forgetting some of the ones I do know. I want to thank everyone at Fairview Heights for the backpacks and lotions, shampoo, and soap, for the furniture, for the gifts for us, for meeting to load the conatiner. For everything.

It is always bad to start thanking people and leave someone out. So many people did so much to get this container here. A few people that I especially want to thank-- Paul and Sara for sorting and packing all those clothes. You have made a huge difference. Ron Ashby for donating all the boxes in which to pack. And last, but certainly not least, Kevin and Kara. They organized, inventoried, took care of all the paperwork. Kevin even wore a pink backpack during church, more than once, to remind people to bring their backpacks. Kara told me more than once she had bitten off more than she could chew. You stepped out of your comfort zone and you did an awesome job.

I wish that each one of you that sent anything for this container could have been here to see our excited our kids were, to see faces on children receiving backpacks and toys. We love everyone of you.

Terri