Orosi Angel Tree

I have a post in the works that will detail the Mission Team's planned activities for December's Costa Rica Vacation Bible School. However, in the meantime, I wanted to put up a quick post about one particular activity--and ask you to consider helping out.

One day during the week, the team will take a break from VBS and bring upwards of 60 kids (last year it was 39) from the local orphanage to El Jardin Sagrado for a Christmas celebration. They'll sing, listen to Bible stories, have a Christmas pageant, etc.

And they'll each get a present.

These kids have very little except a shared room at the orphanage and the clothes on their backs. The gift they get from our team while at El Jardin Sagrado will, in all likelihood, be the only gift they get all year.

We'd love to have people here at home participate by buying a gift for a specific child and sending it down to Costa Rica. Unfortunately, the cost of shipping packages (or checking extra luggage on the plane) is so expensive that we can't afford it. Therefore, the team will buy the gifts once they get to Costa Rica. They'll have some basic information about each child (e.g., age and gender), and they'll pray for guidance about what kind of gift would make the biggest difference for him or her.

Even though we can't take the kids gifts from the US, we would still like to give people here at home an opportunity to establish a personal relationship with a child in Orosi. If you can donate $20 to $25 to buy a gift for a child, we will provide you with a photo--and maybe even video--of that child receiving your gift. We would like to provide more information about the kids, but PANI (the agency that runs the orphanage) is very wary about giving out too much personal information about the children. Costa Rica has a problem with child exploitation, so the authorities are rightly cautious.

Can you spend a few dollars to help one or two kids? I plan to do this with my daughter. I'll make a couple of donations in her name, and I'll use the photo as a way to help her understand how fortunate she is--and what it means to help others.

If you have smaller kids, this would be a great learning and giving opportunity. If you don't, it's still an opportunity for you to reach out with a small donation that can make a huge difference.

If you attend Threshold and would like to donate, stop by the Christmas Tree that's located near the Threshold Kids check-in area on Sunday morning. Or you can send your gift to the address on the right side of this web page. The only difference is that you should have the memo say "Orosi Angel Tree."

Thank you, and may God bless you for your generosity!