Christmas 2008. God Blessed us with 4,539 gifts. We were able to provide gifts for 5 reservations, 4 schools, two homeless shelters and YWCAs and many individual families in the Dakotas Conference. The parties went very well and the children appreciated the gifts so much. There were 500 blankets that were donated to the elders of the Spirit Lake Nation.

A Christmas story. During one of the Christmas parties at a Recreation Center on the Spirit Lake Nation a young mother came up to Libby and me with tears in her eyes. She related this story. My 8 year old son came to me in November and asked me: "Why is Santa mad a me and my sisters?" She said that she could not answer him. She related to us that many of the Christmas' she had to choose between food for her table or gifts for the children. She said that she always felt guilty about not getting any gifts and sometimes told the children that Santa was a good man, but sometimes ran out of gifts because there were so many children in the world. Knowing that she was again not going to be able to afford gifts she said that many times during the Christmas season she would go to bed and cry herself to sleep. She said that she had just recently moved to the Spirit Lake Nation from another reservation and heard about the Shoebox Christmas Gift give away at the recreation center and became excited for her children. She then worried that since she was not a registered member of the tribe her children would not be eligible to receive the gifts. So she resigned herself that her children would go through another Christmas without gifts from Santa. A week before Christmas, her children came home from school with these beautiful little shoeboxes filled with toys and candy. She was very happy that her children received these gifts, but felt bad that Santa was not coming to her house again this year. Then her children told her what she had been dreading. There was a Christmas party at the St Michaels Recreation Center. She expressed her concern that they may not be able to go that day. The day arrived and she said that for some reason, she just loaded up the car and came to the Rec. To her surprise, no one even asked her if she was a registered member of the tribe. They just pointed her to the line to see Santa. For the first time in 8 years, her son got a gift from Santa. He told his mother that Santa was not mad anymore and that he was a really neat guy! God provided one little boy and his sisters with their first Santa gift. He truly is an Awesome God!

Your generosity made a young man very happy. He also received the story of Jesus' birth and felt the love of Jesus Christ through you. Blessings to you all.


On a trip to a 6th grade class in a school on the reservation I watched one young man open his gift. When he opened his box, there on top was the story of Jesus' birth. Each Shoebox Christmas Gift gets a story of Jesus' birth. He looked at it and placed it next to his box. He then reached in and pulled out a stocking cap and a pair of gloves and placed them beside his box. He picked out the four hot wheel cars and played with them for a minute and then placed them beside his box. He pulled out a coloring book and crayons, and some other small toys and placed them in the growing pile beside his box. He then started pulling out all the candy and popped a tootsie roll in his mouth and placed the other candy in his pile. His teacher told them they could have one piece of candy. He looked in and saw the very last gift laying on the bottom of his box. He reached in and took in out, showed it to his buddy and exclaimed: "Now I don't have to share with my brother"! This young man pulled an .88 cent toothbrush out of his box. I was heartbroken that a child would be that excited about a toothbruse. Something that many of us take for granted. Later during the day, I was speaking with the principle and he related that for 70 percent of these children, this would be the only gift they received for Christmas.

While attending a Christmas party at one of the Recreation Centers on the Spirit Lake Nation, we were presenting blankets and quilts to the elders while the children were receiving their gifts from Santa. A grandmother, an elder of the tribe, came up to us and said: "I just want to thank you for the gift of warmth you have provided me and my grandchildren. This is the best Christmas I can remember in a very long time". We presented over 300 blankets and quilts last year. To watch the children as they sat on Santa's lap and got their gifts was a wonderful experience. Then I started watching the parents and elders of those children. I saw many of them wiping tears of joy as they watched Santa giving out his gifts. I realized then that we were not only impacting the children, but their parents and grandparents too. God blessed me that night with a better understanding of His gifts to the children and parents of the Spirit Lake Nation.