Christmas Backpack Project
As missionaries, we constantly seek new ways to share Christ’s love and support indigenous evangelists. In a small Cora village in Mexico’s Sierra Madre, we’ve partnered with a local church—bringing medical aid, discipleship, and emergency evacuations. Understanding indigenous culture is complex, so we rely on native pastors for guidance. This past fall, we proposed a Christmas project, and with the local pastor’s support, we began planning to bless the village’s children while building trust with the elders.
The idea was to do a small-scale project similar to the shoebox outreach of Samaritan’s Purse. But instead of shoeboxes, we would do backpacks full of toys, school supplies and basic hygiene products.
We spent a day stuffing the backpacks with all the items that we had gathered.
Early the next morning we began making flights out to the village with people and cargo. Every time our Cessna 206 airplane landed, the children swarmed the grass airstrip to greet the team and help carry our cargo to the dormitory. There was a palpable excitement among the children in the village. We began to suspect that word had gotten out that we were bringing gifts!
After the sun went down the villagers gathered, and we played a nativity movie that gave a clear gospel message, projected on the wall of the community center building. It was gratifying to see how attentive the children were, and how they watched all the way until the end of the film.
On the afternoon of the second day in the village, we got all the kids together, and the leader of the Montana team shared a short message about who Jesus is, and how He is the greatest gift of all! Then we lined up the kids and began passing out the backpacks! It was so special to see the joy our small gifts brought to these children who have very little. Some of the highlights were seeing the kids sharing and trading their gifts amongst each other, playing with marbles and dolls, toy cars and balls.
One special moment was when a member of our team witnessed a small boy open his backpack and pull out the small New Testament that was included in each bag. He was SO excited to have his very own bible! “It’s in Spanish!” He exclaimed joyfully.
This outreach placed Bibles in the homes of 250 children in this village, plus another 60 that were sent to another nearby village. Children and adults alike were presented with a clear gospel message during the nativity movie, and the message shared at the gift giving time. We encouraged and challenged the believers in the church and were ourselves blessed, prayed for, and encouraged by their faithfulness!
These kinds of projects are a great encouragement to our ministry and serve to strengthen the relationship between the indigenous church and us, the long-term missionaries in the field. We are so grateful to Cornerstone Bible Church of Hamilton, Montana for partnering with us! Our goal is to use our airplane and our talents in service to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and to continue to serve in the ministry of reconciliation that God has given to every believer! 2 Cor 5:18-21
Written by Kevin McDaniel, UIMA field staff