“Needs know no season,” one can read in a Salvation Army Christmas appeal. It is so true, and for us at The Salvation Army Windhoek Corps in Namibia, the Christmas season is the time when we raise much-needed funds to respond to the needs throughout the year. Every year, the Windhoek Corps in the Western Cape Division offers a gift wrapping service to the public. This service runs for two and a half weeks before Christmas and has been going on for over 12 years!
The idea is simple: the corps sets up stands strategically placed at malls, with 2 to 3 people (mainly young people) manning the tables. People buy their gifts, bring them to our stands, and our team of vibrant young people professionally wrap the gifts. The patrons pay us for the service, walk away very satisfied and happy to go make others happy. We are delighted to have made people happy and the world a happier place, even if only for the time the intended recipients receive their gifts. It makes you think about what would happen if throughout the year, we all lived and created moments like these.
For the Windhoek Corps, the Christmas gift wrapping service is also an opportunity for our young people to develop skills such as gift wrapping, interacting with people, and sharing information about The Salvation Army and our programmes. Because they spend long hours together at the stands, our youth get to know each other a little better. We also get to observe them in action and identify traits and characteristics that we might not otherwise notice.
The funds help us assist children with school stationery as schools open, and a portion of that goes toward our community Kidz Club, providing food parcels when needed. While it may not be enough compared to the needs around us, for the few who receive assistance, it goes a long way. We could do more, but we do what we can with what we have. All to the glory of God!
