Angel Tree Ministries

Our church participates in the Angel Tree Ministries program whereby good Christians privately purchase gifts for children whose parents are in prison so these children experience the love of Christ on Christmas Day. A nice idea, in theory. Well, I took a peek at the suggested Christmas list. First was the list of Nos: crafts, board games and puzzles. Hmmm........all things that stimulate the mind and don't require batteries.
Girls ages 6-11:
Anything Bratz.....Excuse me? How about putting anything Bratz on the No list. No child, more pointedly, no child whose upbringing is already less than optimal due to the poor life choices of their parents, needs to EVER have a Bratz toy to have a full and complete childhood.
Purses, jewelry
Baby dolls that do something like eat, wet, talk etc. --esp. Baby Alive (which costs $49.99!) I just about fell out over that...my 2 yo received 2 dolls that hmmmm........did nothing and 1 from me that talks and laughs when you squeeze it...and I paid $14.99 for that one. My 4 yo got a doll that hmmmm.......does nothing and my almost 6 yo got a doll that hmmmmmmmmm.........does nothing...but they are cuddly. I resent fully being told that unless you buy a $49.99 doll for a child it is not acceptable. What planet are these folks on?
electronic hand held games
I forget what else
Boys ages 6-11:
Anything Superman and Spiderman
Remote control cars (and just who is going to buy the batteries?)...how about play cars?
Electronic handheld games
I forget what else


Here is what really killed me....
Teenage Girls and Boys 12 and up:
CD players
CDs
mp3 players
Electronic hand held games
Cell phones
Calling cards/prepaid minutes for the cell phones!
For girls, jewelry
For boys...that was it.

Okay, the problems here are many and multitudinal. The true message of Christ is simple as summed up in John 3:16. For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.

So far, so good. We also know that God is love. What is love? Is love the outpouring of electronic devices? No. What happened to gratefulness? What happened to thankfulness? These children are already likely wards of the state. Why should they, in the name of God, be receiving electronic gadgets and Bratz dolls to woo them to the Gospel? These children need to be taught to be grateful for food, shelter and clothing.

The problem is the Church. The people in the American church are not grateful for food, shelter and clothing. They view that God loves them when they are able to *afford* (and trust me, I use that term very loosely) the above mentioned electronic items. Sigh.....

The welfare state needs to be dismantled immediately. Yes, a lot of chaos will erupt...but guess what...repentance is never pretty. Draining a life-threatening infection isn't pretty. It's painful (I had that done once and it competes with childbirth for pain)....but it's necessary for true healing to occur. Noone is doing these children any favors when the above items are bought for them. I thought it was over the top....and my IRL friends think so, too! (So at least I know I'm not alone...not that it matters that much, but I do like having some friends....LOL).

Contrast that with the gift list for the African Children's Choir:
Any clothes (no spaghetti straps specifically mentioned). Used clothes are okay, but if you're buying underwear, please make sure it's new. (Perfectly reasonable, imo).
Hair items
Other reasonable stuff....nothing electronic....these children are a pleasure to buy for.

So....competing with the welfare state is definitely not easy. I can't so I won't. I was at our church's Christmas Eve candlelight service and afterwards they have a reception. We go back there (even though we don't eat because we just had a great big feast before the service), and I see a 15 yo inner city boy that my sister has taken an interest in. He's a good kid. It's not his fault he has a druggy mother and a fugitive father (he's wanted in the state of NJ for vehicular manslaughter for being the DUI driver in an incident that killed his at the time girlfriend).....He has an older sister and younger brother. As I said, he's a good kid. I see him pulling out his cell phone at the reception. Excuse me? You live in Section 8 housing; your Mom doesn't feed you breakfast because she ostensibly can't afford to, yet you have a cell phone? This is insane! IF the welfare state were to immediately cease and desist all wealth transfer payments and if druggy Mom (aka Sandy) were to have to pay for her own housing and food do you think she'd really have money to get her 15 yo son a cell phone? HELP!!!!

Oh, and btw, we had a wonderful Christmas. We got our children everything they wanted and that we wanted to get and we all are in good health...and get this....NOONE got anything electronic....and they are grateful and thankful.

Oh, and here's a good one. This girl who has done nothing but complain for years about how poor they are talks about getting a Wii for Christmas http://trainingheartsathome.blogspot.com/ ( I am so ideologically opposed to them I can scarcely be civil...if you have a mortgage you have debt and have no business buying a Wii!)....oh, how God cares for them because He provided a Wii.....and lest you think that they really are poor, how about reading the part where her 11 yo daughter stayed in bed from 6:30 am to 7: 00 am playing games on her cell phone? Good gravy! How these people can cry poor is beyond logic. Obviously, she is a very stupid woman. She also talks about how she loves her children and how it's so important to train them up; yet she's had a tubal. If you permanantly prevent more children from being born that is certainly your prerogative; just don't insult me by telling me how much you love your children and how important it is to raise them up in a Godly way....Please.....you don't really love them...if you did, you wouldn't prevent the conception of more.