How to send a care package...

Some people have been asking about how to send packages, where, and whatnot… so I am going to do a blog on it, so that it reaches everyone who surfs our sight.

First of all, here is the address:
Knightly Family
Igreja Evangelica de Cristo
CP 307
Namibe
Angola

Via Portugal

Now it is important when sending a letter or package to include “via Portugal” as any letters that were sent not including that have not arrived. So that is the first suggestion.

Secondly:

How do you pack it up? Well, so far we have received everything from letters and bubble envelopes to a McDonald fry box. My suggestion is that if you are sending a ‘large’ box that you send it ground, it does take 2 months, but it costs a lot less. The church sent a box that was 38kg’s (if I remember rightly) and it cost $100 to send it ground and would have cost over $200 to send it air. We don’t mind waiting (as we are getting used to waiting!! J). I would suggest that you take every bit of weight into consideration, even how much tape you package it up with. Some suggestions for packing the package tight without wasting space are… marshmallows (keep them in the package though, it could get messy!!! OR put them into smaller Ziploc bags to fit in around things), zip loc bags, cheese packets from Kraft Dinner (we don’t need the noodles and it saves weight to not include it), sunflower seeds in Ziplocs, toilet paper, Kleenex… you get the idea! Don’t worry about taking things out of their original packing, and slipping them into Ziploc bags, packaging is not only bulky but weighs something. Remember paper weighs a lot. We love pictures, but you can send a disc and we can print them out here (when we have power!!!). It is a good idea to insure the package. Perhaps send an email to let us know you are sending it, so if it ‘doesn’t’ come we can let you know so you can collect on your insurance J.

Lastly:

Here are the suggestions of what we need or would enjoy having sent.
1. Kool-aid, the kind without sugar (you can add your own sugar, as all powdered juices here contain aspartame).
2. Seeds (just a variety, including herbs)
3. Sugarless gum
4. Patterns (Easy, Simple patterns that don’t require a lot of notions, for Women and children)
5. Rayon material
6. Sewing notions (zippers, hook and eyes, snaps, buttons, thread, elastic, sewing machine needles for ‘old’ Singers and a White machine, good scissors for cutting material, etc!).
7. Fishing line (15lb to 30lb test)
8. Fish hooks
9. Floss
10. DVD’s (please only G or PG rated movies, especially cartoons, as our Portuguese speaking friends just LOVE watching them… and if you can find anything in Portuguese that would be awesome… and the boys love Sponge Bob)
11. Tim Horton or Starbucks coffee (for a treat!)
12. Yogurt Starter (Yogourmet… freeze dried and does not need to be refrigerated, it is our main source of calcium as we are not yet used to powdered milk, but home made yogurt is GREAT).
13. Batteries (AA Energizer Rechargeable for the one hour charger 1850 mAh, at least this is the kind of charger that we have, unless someone wants to send a faster charger, as the faster the better here with the lack of electricity on such a regular basis… also batteries and a charger for C and D cell batteries [along with the batteries] would be awesome as the batteries from the praca are expensive and ‘do not last’. We cannot even find C cells here.
14. Books on Astronomy (Tavis is really keen on space, and stuff), books on Botany or Palaeontology or Animals and stuff (Trevor loves to explore nature, here on ‘earth’), Meagan also really enjoys reading but she has lots of books to get through, she would probably like a movie (like Lord of the Rings Trilogy or the soundtrack to it), she also enjoys worship music CD’s (and so do her friends, they can’t seem to get enough).
15. CD writables
16. Puzzles for Pete (don’t send the box just the puzzle in a bag, and maybe a picture if you want to be gracious to him!!!).
17. Iced Tea crystals (YUM… oh I miss that!).
18. Denture cleaner (no we don’t have false teeth, but a couple of us have mouth guards that need a good cleaning).
19. Vitamins
20.Tea Tree facial cleaner from Body Shop (foaming wash, mask, moisturizer).

These are some of things that we could use, we also enjoy chocolate chips (or chocolate of any kind J), sunflower seeds, spices (especially East Indian spices, that are not available here) and things like that! We’ll leave the rest to your imagination, or if you would like to send an email and find out ‘what do you need today’, as those days come and go.

We are very thankful for the generosity and love that has been shown to our family. Those who are interested in helping out with Talitha’s flight home for her final year of school, please send me an email and I will give you the mailing address for either Pete’s or my parents who can directly deposit funds into our account. The flight will cost around $2000 CND and we are trying to coordinate it with another missionary heading to Canada on furlough in April so that she has someone to hang out with her during those ‘long’ waits in airports. Our travel agent in Vancouver is doing a fantastic job in that area (they may not fly on the same plane but they will be able to wait together for the bulk of it). That is a relief to me (the mommy who is losing her first little chick from the nest!!! L)

Well, keep in touch knightvision6@gmail.com is our email address and we love to hear from you!

God Bless,
Charlene for the gang!