The Agape Ministry of the Diocese of Easton
A Ministry for Children of Incarcerated Parents
“Give me your unconditional love, the kind of love I deserve, the kind I want to return.”
(From a song sung at Camp Wright/Camp Agape)
Dear Clergy and Wardens:
One of the things that has become popular in our culture is to celebrate “Christmas in July”. Hallmark Channel plays some of its Christmas movies, and some stores even begin to put their Christmas items out on the shelves! For someone who likes to keep Advent, this seems extreme and I usually do not participate. However, I write you on behalf of the Agape Ministry to ask you to begin thinking about Christmas – in particular our Agape Ministry Christmas party, which happens in early December.
Each year as a part of the Christmas party, we have time for the children to shop for Christmas gifts in a special “gift room” to give to their family members (and sometimes one for themselves!) We get many wonderful donations towards this shopping experience, often gently used items that are appropriate for the adults in the lives of the children whom we serve. But we lack toys (except well worn ones).
We would like to ask that you consider having a new toy drive in your church so that we might have new toys for the children to give to their siblings and for themselves. We would ask that you not wrap them, because that is one of the best times we have at the Christmas – wrapping! If you coordinate the toy drive, we can help to pick them up and deliver them to the party. Please consider having a toy drive in your church sometime this fall. For more information or when you have collected your toys, you can contact the Agape Committee at agapeministrymd@gmail.com. The deadline for donations is Sunday, 18 November so we can assure that your toys make it to the party on time!
In Christ,
(The Rev’d) Michael D. Moyer OGS
Chaplain
The Agape Ministry of the Diocese of Easton