Gifts from the heart

At 1:00 o’clock in the afternoon of Wednesday, December 17, nearly 170 Christmas gifts were delivered to our campus. There was a wrapped gift for each student (including most wives of the married students) as well as for every child of every student. The brightly decorated packages were placed on a series of tables set up in the commons of the dormitory so that the student body could claim the gift(s) that had their names on them. An email message was sent to all students to inform them that these evidences of love and generosity awaited them. By the next day the gifts had found their rightful home in dormitory rooms and off-campus houses of our students.

This outpouring of kindness has taken place during the week before Christmas break for over a decade now. It began as an effort of members of Peace in Hartford, Wisconsin. In time the annual gift-giving expanded to include seven other WELS congregations, so now eight churches are involved. Mrs. Pat Mueller from Peace currently serves as organizer of the program and she delivers the gifts in her filled-to-capacity pickup truck. The intrinsic value of the gifts is not the important thing. The kindness, generosity, and desire to share encouragement to students preparing for the pastoral ministry are the important things. This is understood and appreciated by our students.

There are other outpourings of love demonstrated by others during the Christmas season. Congregations as near as Thiensville and Mequon and as far away as Palos Heights and Antioch, IL, and Elkton, SD, annually adopt a number of students and provide expressions of love during the season of gift-giving. Yet other groups and individuals send monetary gifts and gift cards for distribution among the student body. Reflecting the love of the Christ Child who gave himself to mankind, these fellow believers are telling us they love the Savior and his gospel and care about future proclaimers of that gospel. For all of this we are grateful.

Professor Forrest Bivens