Christmas wishes for our troops in Afghanistan

Preface by Bishop Philip Duncan

Dear friends in Christ,

I received this message which follows from Chaplain Rick Tiff who is one of the young men from my former parish in Clearwater, Florida. A very fine priest and chaplain and for his work and ministry, I am very proud and most grateful. His request is a way in which some of us may want to exercise our generosity and this is a fine way to bring our troops a little bit of home, comfort and Christmas joy. This is also a way to honor those for whom we pray at our Sunday Eucharists. As we celebrate Thanksgiving and begin our Church’s New Year this Sunday, my prayer is that each of us my take the time to prepare for the Christmas event and give thanks for our blessings and respond in tangible ways.

In His Holy Name and PAX,
Bishop Duncan

Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T
___________________________________

Dear Friends & Family,

As you make your holiday plans please consider the needs and wants of our toops in Afghanistan. I am currently deployed with over 600 troops as a Navy Chaplain in Afghanistan with an amazing ministry here.

Below is an extensive and recent wish list of what the troops are asking me for. Please do not feel obligated to meet all of these needs, but please do what you can if you can. But, please tell me what on the list you will be providing before I get it, so we can keep organized. Our battalion is spread all over the country by DET sites. If you send everything to me at mainbody, we can distribute it for you. But to make our life MUCH MUCH easier, please adopt a particular DET site and send it to them directly. All the mailing information, addresses, and data are listed below. It will get there quicker if you adopt a DET site rather than send it to me for us to do the work.

Please keep in touch and pray for us whether you send something or not. I would love to reconnect or stay connected to all of you. I will send more pictures.

May God Bless you richly this Christmas Season,

Chaplain Rick Tiff

ricktiff@gmail.com

Needs/Wants:

Magazines (skateboarding/tattoos/motorcycles), Q-tips, shaving cream, books on tape (playaways), Christmas trees, men’s deoderent, brown Tee shirts (military issue), Splenda, Coffee creamer, sugar for coffee, Christmas decorations, hot chocolate packets, shampoo, razors, body soap, toothpaste, tooth brushes, dental floss, pipe cleaners, baby wipes, coco Butter/lotions, movie DVDs, mouth guards, boxing gloves, speed bags, cold weather socks, candy orange slices/candy, flavored tea bags, vitamin C tablets, gym equiptment (ask me for specifics), Playstation 3, foot powder/foot cream, candy to hand out to troops, children’s shoes (ages 1-16) and children’s warm weather clothes. (We are sending 45 troops outside of the wire and the people there are very poor. They help us identfy the bad guys.)

These are the current addresses (the first line, i.e. Bagram, Camp Leatherneck or Det Dwyer, is not part of the mailing addre ss, this is where the Service Member’s name goes):

Chaplain Rick Tiff
NMCB 3 Mainbody
FPO AP 96601-4921

LT. Hayes
NMCB 3 Mainbody (Delta Company)
FPO AP 96601-4921

LT. Galloway
NMCB 3 DWR
FPO AP 96601-4921

LT. Caudle
NMCB 3 Mainbody (Echo Company)
FPO AP 96601-4921

LT. Frank
NMCB 3 PYN
FPO AP 96601-4921

LTJG Quan
NMCB 3 Mainbody (Water Well)
FPO AP 96601-4921

Delta Company has 157 personnel
134 Males
23 Females
USE ADDRESS FOR LT. HAYES

DET Dwyer has 58 personnel
49 males
9 females
USE ADDRESS FOR LT. GALLOWAY

DET Payne has 31 personnel
28 males
3 females
USE ADDRESS FOR LT. FRANK

DET Water Well has 23 personnel
21 Males
2 Females
USE ADDRESS FOR LTJG. QUAN

Echo Company has 134 personnel
120 males
14 females
USE ADDRESS FOR LT. CAUDLE

Headquarters Company has 47 personnel
41 males
6 females
USE ADDRESS FOR CHAPLAIN RICK TIFF

LCDR Bestafka
Unit 3E Seabees
APO AE 09354

DET 4 has 88 personnel
75 male
13 female
USE ADDRESS FOR LCDR BESTAFKA

Please ensure to write the addresses as exactly as they are written. Mail will not be received at the correct location if the mailing address is not properly written. NMCB THREE is not responsible for mail that isn’t sent to the correct address.

All personnel not at Bagram or Det Dwyer should utilize the Main Body mailing address. Mail will be routed from there to the proper Det site.

Packages MUST BE either in BROWN boxes or wrapped in BROWN paper. Packages that are not received in such a manner will be returned. The White Priority Mailboxes from the post office are not accepted unless wrapped in BROWN paper.

On left: Chaplain Rick Tiff