Good & Faithful Servant Award: Peacemaking Through Toys
Two small United Methodist churches in rural Iowa heard about something horrible happening in Iraq and decided to do something about it. A woman in one of the churches learned from her Marine son-in-law how Iraqi insurgents were giving children realistic looking toy guns in hopes that a U.S. soldier might mistakenly shoot a child and incite anger against the United States.
She initiated a program in her church which collects safe toys for Iraqi children, like soccer balls, backpacks, Beanie Babies and other toys. These toys are then traded by service men and women in Iraqi for those fake guns.
Twenty-eight boxes were shipped for Christmas, 2006. Among the boxes were 1,500 soccer balls!
Hey, this is not going to bring about world peace. I know that and you know that. It won’t even bring about an end to the war in Iraq. But, there is something to be said for making a small difference in the world when there is no opportunity to make a big one. And anyway, what could be better than peacemaking with toys?!
Janet Wakehouse, and Turin and Onawa United Methodist Churches: Well done, good and faithful servant. (Matthew 25:14-30)
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