Christmas at BCM

"The look on the boys' and girls' faces when they received their gifts made all the effort worthwhile."

Each Christmas more than 800 needy families are referred to the Mission for its toy distribution. For some of the 2,000 children these will be the only presents they receive. As you can imagine, it is a mammoth task and involves many volunteers.

Each child receives books, puzzles, cuddly toys, games etc, appropriate to their age and gender. Parcels are placed in a family sack, together with a Christmas card and Christian literature. We deliver to children who range from babies to teenagers and there may be as many as seven or more in a family. It brings us so much pleasure to spend as many days as possible during December (almost camping out at the Mission !!) - choosing and wrapping the presents. We try to imagine the children's faces when they open their gifts on Christmas morning!

This is a wonderful opportunity for outreach. We pray that through reading the literature enclosed in the parcels, the personal contact with those that deliver them and the visit of a city missionary later many folk may come to know something of the love of God shown that first Christmas.

Guidelines for Gifts and Toys

• Toys should be new or as new, in the original packaging where possible

• All toys should have the CE label on, for health and safety reasons

• Battery operated toys should be in full working order

• Books must be in good condition, not torn or scribbled on

• Puzzles must be complete

• Please leave your gifts unwrapped

• Gifts suitable for boys over 9 and children under 2 are normally in short supply

• We need rolls and rolls of wrapping paper

Our thanks to all the schools, churches and individuals who send toys and Christmas gifts for this project.

Revisiting

After Christmas we revisit some of the children who received gifts. As a result, many children have been added to the Sunday Schools at Kings Norton Baptist Church and Hodge Hill Gospel Church . It is impossible, with our limited resources, to revisit all these homes after Christmas.

We are looking for Birmingham churches who would like to partner with us in a new way.  The church will identify ten families in their area who are genuinely disadvantaged and would benefit from receiving gifts. BCM will make up the parcels and then the local church will be able to distribute them in their area. Our prayer is that these gifts will be a means of more people attending church and coming to faith in our Lord Jesus. These parcels might be the unusually shaped key that will open someone's heart.