Blythswood News
Number 85 Shoe Box Appeal 2024
A blessing for you and for her
Imagine standing in her shoes. Eight children and another on the way. An irregular household income. A main earner affected by terminal cancer. A shoebox for each child, full of gifts appropriate to the ages of her children, from the little ones to the early teens.
Things in the boxes they’ll always need, like toothpaste and – for when it gets really cold – a hat and gloves. Colouring books which bring joy for a few hours and small toys to be played with again and again.
She could never have done that for all her children. But you did it for her. It was a combined effort: you looking for bargains in the supermarket, stressing over the best way to wrap a shoebox, packing it as best you could, getting it to Blythswood in time.
Then someone quality-checking it, adding the Bible story book, putting it in a bigger carton, and onto the back of the lorry for Europe. There, a local charity worker taking it to this family’s village and now, here they are. A shoebox each!
Thank you for filling a shoebox. And if you’ve never filled one before, please do so this time. Fill as many as you can. It will mean so much to that mum, and to thousands more like her. And you may discover that it’s even more blessed to give than to receive.
Jeremy Ross
Chief Executive
Your gifts are changing lives for good
Last May I sat with some young Serbians who were participating in Christianity Explored. For Silvana, it wasn’t her first time on the course. She had invited a friend and came to keep her company. It’s exciting to see how this course helps Christians to explain to their friends who Jesus is, why he came and what it means to follow him. By choosing this gift, you enable Blythswood to run Christianity Explored in Serbia (more). Thank you very much indeed.
Andrei’s story (more) helps you to appreciate what the Daniel Centre does for young men who haven’t had the start in life that most of us would want. What a gift it is to come into their lives and, in a safe setting, provide some security as they learn life skills. Over the years, the Daniel Centre has helped 140 young men to live independent lives and to contribute to the wider community.
None of this would be possible without your support. Your gifts help us to carry on working through life-changing projects in three continents. And they enable us to reach out a helping hand to those whose lives have been turned upside down by war in Ukraine (more) or by natural disaster in Pakistan (more).
Our Saviour says, ‘If you give even a cup of cold water to one of the least of my followers, you will surely be rewarded.’ (Mark 10:42)
Thank you for being part of Blythswood’s ministry.
Jeremy Ross
Chief Executive
Something new for a family dependent on recycling
Hand-me-downs don’t have to fit so long as they keep you warm. And that’s what matters to four-year-old Melisa as she clutches a Blythswood shoebox
Your gifts reach some of the poorest families in Europe
Laslo Dan presented shoeboxes to sisters Csilla (6), Elisha (14) and Tunde (5) in a village in Satu Mare county, Romania.
Jordan relies on the kindness of neighbours
By anyone’s standard, Jordan is the poorest of the poor. The Roma community to which he belongs survives by gathering herbs and mushrooms
Eleonora takes your gifts home to grandma
Books and dolls are the two things nine-year-old Eleonora likes best. And when Blythswood shoeboxes were handed out at her school
Pensioner in front-line village liked paint brushes and calendar
Genadiy lives in a village in northern Ukraine, near the Russian border. He is 73 years old.
Leonardo loves sweets
Leonardo knows that his box includes sweets. And that is what puts a sparkle in his eyes according to his teacher, Lidia Micula. “He was happy because of the sweets,” she says.
Winter items help families with special needs
Marko, now 11 years old, was born deaf and is unable to speak. These disabilities leave him more than usually dependent on his mother
Ancient story grips young mind
A child from a Roma family in Transylvania dives straight in to the story of Job, the ancient biblical account of bad things
Shoebox gifts for station sleeper
Istvan is homeless, living in a small town in eastern Hungary, near the Romanian border. He searches the streets and town square for
Erika is mesmerized by your presents
“Words cannot express the joy that I saw in this child Erika,” reports Pastor Mihai Micula who distributed shoeboxes in the villages
Shoebox visit a glimmer of hope for family hit by disaster
Two-year-old Emilia was intrigued by a baby doll which she found in her box, while Dana, who is six, loved
Shoebox for a happy man
On the wall of his house, Vasile has an illustration of one of the parables of Jesus. It shows the right hand of the sower stretched out to broadcast the good seed of the word.
Your gifts felt like recognition of airman’s sacrifice
Natalia and Vadym never had much money. For this reason they and their two children shared a home with Vadym’s parents.
Your gifts took brothers by surprise
Vladislav (19) and his ten-year-old brother Danilo were surprised and delighted by the Christmas presents delivered to their village home by Serve Now.
Calendar brings joy to Istvan
Istvan, now 64, was homeless before a building contactor took pity on him and let him sleep in a corner of his commercial premises, in a village in Zala county,
Ibolya thanks you with a smile
Some of the boxes delivered to Blythswood’s partners in Hungary were distributed just over the border in Romania, where Hungarian remains
Shoeboxes create unforgettable moments for family in need
The disruption to day-to-day life caused by war is a nightmare for any family. When one of the children has