Care Packages

Jim over at Missionary-Blogs.com recently asked if we'd write about 'care packages' from home and what they mean to us. So here goes...

"What do you most miss from home?" & "What can we send you?"

These are two common questions which are actually quite hard to answer. When we were in Tanzania we welcomed just about anything, especially Pepperami sticks and Onion Bhaji Mix. However, here in South Africa we can get pretty much anything. Our local fish & chip shop is far superior to anything in the UK, as is most local produce and marmite is on the supermarket shelves. Our local pub (we don't frequent it too often) even serves Kilkenny on draught and Boddingtons is available in the local bottle store!

So what makes a good 'care package' from home? One dear friend sends the Telegraph Motoring section to Dean, she gathers up a month's worth and post them off. Needless to say Dean is delighted to receive them and very distracted for several hours as he reads them. This is the kind of thing that keeps us connected with home. So in short the answer is magazines and news items. Paula enjoys Hello etc. and we both appreciate getting various newsletters and parish magazines from our supporting churches (although not all send them to us). Just about any magazine or journal would do, although it's always good to get something you're particularly interested in such as cars or mountain biking.

Ultimately though, a good old fashioned letter is what really makes our day and makes us feel connected to friends back home!