Shoe
Boxes for Afghanistan
Please
collect and give to Lin Partis, items which can be included
as treats in 'shoe boxes' for needy soldiers serving in Afghanistan.
Update
from Lin on Sunday 27th June: Before I give you an update
on the 'Shoe Box Appeal' I thought I'd just briefly run through
what we've been doing over the past couple of weeks, for anyone
who, for whatever reason, hasn't heard about it. About a month
ago, I was chatting to a work colleague about her son Wayne,
who is a Corporal in the RAF. He's done 3 tours in Iraq and
is currently doing his second tour in Afghanistan. Wayne is
a team medic - first point of contact for anyone injured on
the ground. They are at present patrolling areas of Base Camp
Bastion - a large area, which is constantly under attack.
Temperatures are high. 48°C - and it's not the middle
of summer yet.
Wayne
is also a trained sniper and last year spent a lot of time
living up in the mountains. Wayne's mum, on that particular
morning was given a couple of shoe boxes by one of the girls
we work with. Then, being me, I asked her why she needed them.
They were to fill and send out to Wayne - something from home.
She told me food is very bland and basic. She sends small
tins of fruit (ring pull top), mints, spicy nuts and crisps,
chewing gum, sweets and cereal bars.
She
also puts in things like talc (for boots), shower gel and
stick or roll on deodorant. She also told me there are some
who never receive anything from home, so the ones who do,
tend to share what they get. That got me thinking straight
away, I really felt God nudging me into doing something so
I had a word with Tim about it. I wondered if we, as a church,
could get involved in this. He said yes and here we are.
I've
talked to Wayne's mum again, several times since then. She
hadn't heard from Wayne for a long time. As a mother, I can't
even begin to what imagine what that must feel like. I asked
her to find out how many boxes we need for his squadron and
check that it was ok for us to do it. She spoke to his Warrant
Officer and everything has been agreed.
There
are almost 200 in his squadron but 86 are in Afghanistan.
This is a tall order. When God places something on our hearts,
he likes to give us a challenge, that's for sure.
Added
to 3rd July.
