An Honest Christmas Story in Timaru

Christmas is about sharing and giving gifts. Our celebration is based on the first Christmas season in Bethlehem over two thousand years ago.

As the Christmas season of 2023 approaches, let us celebrate God’s love and the miracles His only son, Jesus Christ, brings once again.

I have a heartwarming Christmas story to share with you. In today’s world, littered with dishonesty and corruption, this could genuinely be considered a miracle story.

Upon learning that I got sick in late October, a lovely couple from another town sent me money as support for my medical needs.

They weren’t sure when I would return to visit them, so on 8 November, they put some cash into an envelope and sent it to me via the New Zealand postal system.

When I got well, I met the couple, and they asked if I had received the gift they had sent via postal mail. I said no.

I learned they used our past home address, which they got from a phone directory. We haven’t lived in that address since 2016.

Initially, we agreed to give it another week, hoping and praying that the envelope would be returned to the sender.

They said if it won’t come back, the person who might have taken it needs it more than you do. “It still served the same purpose,” the husband told me.

I thanked them for their generosity and kindness and assured them that, even if I were to receive it, the Lord sees their hearts and will bless them more.

After a week without any updates, I promised to visit our old address and inquire. However, my busy schedule prevented me from going.

A month later, on 8 December, I was surprised to find an envelope (see photo) on my desk at work, with its contents untouched. The day before, while I was on leave, a man had come to our workplace and left the envelope with my coworkers.

Where does sending naked cash via the postal system, and still the sendee receiving it untouched, exist?

In the small town of Timaru, we are blessed to have honest people in the postal system and around our neighbourhood. It is a place of shelter indeed.

In the little town of Bethlehem, truth is born, the Lord Jesus Christ.

May honesty reign forever in Timaru and worldwide.

The Christmas Spirit lives on!