Santa's Helpers

At the beginning of December, Will's second grade class wrote letters to Santa. This is what Will wrote:

I saw the letter at school when I visited for his class party on December 16th, and I hoped Santa would be able to help with the sweet request for chickens for the "Uganda orfans." Santa did not disappoint us, and he left Will a letter on Christmas morning.

My Dearest Friend Will,
I was so encouraged to read the note you left ... It brings my heart, and the hearts of your parents, great joy to see a boy acting so selflessly. A good friends of mine has been given the chickens to be delivered safely, and a picture of them will be sent back to you in the coming weeks. Continue to be the good boy that I have seen in you this year. Be of good faith and good cheer, for you have a good heart.
With Love,
Santa

Last week, a friend from church who is part of Parental Care Ministries (PCM) went to Uganda with a team of veterinary students, and they sent us some pictures of the chickens that Will asked Santa to help get. When I showed Will the PCM blog, he thought it was so neat that his Santa letter was on the blog, AND that he knew Justin (seen in the photos), AND that the kids in Uganda were getting chickens. I was excited to watch his joy as he read the story and realized what happened with his unselfish request. You can read their story here: http://www.parentalcareministries.org/wordpress/?p=5987.

I was delighted to know people who could help Santa bring him one of the things on his list. I can't thank Christie and Justin with PCM enough for helping with this lesson on giving. As a parent, I have loved watching Will open his heart to others in the world. My cup runs over as I see the smiles on these children's faces, but it pales in comparison to the light in Will's eye as he sees the photos.

If I understand correctly, the top picture is of a family with four children who live with both their parents. That family received five chickens which they will be able to raise for eggs to sell for additional income or to feed their own family. The following pictures are of some of the orphans in PCM's Mbarara school with some of the chickens they received.