Feeling Cared For

Care package number two has arrived for me!  I am feeling very loved these days.  Nicola (my roommate of three years) and the girls I affectionately refer to as "my Twin Cities family"  sent me a Christmas package.  The contents:

My favorite granola bars, trail mix (hello crasins!), Instant Snow (can't wait to try this with my class), and a beautiful necklace.

Closeup of necklace

I got to open my package with my friends over Skype (Thank you 21st century!), and I can't even explain how encouraged I felt. 


I write this post to let people know what is going on in my life, but also to encourage anyone who is reading this to think of how you can encourage missionaries (cross-cultural workers) you support or pray for.  I am only here in Bolivia for one year, but think of the long-term workers you know.  My sister, for example, has been in Bolivia for about nine years.  I know that she is unbelievably grateful for even a letter from home, much less a care package.  Or think of families who would love to know that they are thought of.


Here are some practical thoughts if you want to send a package to a cross-cultural worker you know:
- Ask them what they can't get where they are serving.  Can it be packaged?
- Gift cards that can be spent online (iTunes, Amazon, etc.) can even fit in letters
- Think of the workers' children.  How can you let them know that the family of Christ is looking out for them in the country their parents left?
- If you can find someone going to the place where the cross-cultural worker lives, you might be able to send your package in their suitcase and save a lot of money.
- Maybe you don't have the money to send a care package.  A handwritten letter says just as much.
Missionary care has been on my heart for years.  Now that I have some first hand experience about how to encourage cross-cultural workers, I thought I'd post this.

And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.

Hebrews 10:24