Christmas outreach update: We have been enjoying meeting people as we have been going round to different places playing and singing Christmas carols. We have also been blessed and encouraged by people's generosity as they came to give donations to the work of the Salvation Army, and we say a big thank you to you all who have given, it is very much appreciated.

There have been some special moments too, for example, when our band and went to support our fellow Salvationists and their work in Carmarthen, we were encouraged to see how the work of the Salvation Army was developing there in their centre and cafe, and how people were responding so positively to the work and the officers of Carmarthen corps. We were also encouraged by the positive response we received whilst playing Christmas Carols in the town centre, and we will never forget one dear lady who decided to buy Bob (our bandmasters dog) a coat. She just came up to us with this dog coat and said that she had bought it for the dog and asked if she could put it on him, pleasantly surprised, the bandmaster said yes and thanked her, we all thanked her. Later, this lady told us that her dog had died only a few weeks ago.

Another special moment happened on Tuesday afternoon while our band was playing Christmas carols at M&S in Haverfordwest. We were playing While Shepherds watched their flocks by Night when we noticed a young man approach the band carrying his baby boy. This young man stopped and stood by our band and sang this carol quietly to his baby boy. That young man has no idea how deeply that touched us and blessed us and we say thank you to him.

There were other special moments everywhere we went, as we took people's request for carols and saw their smiles as they joined in and sang or stood and listened. We like to believe that something of God and His love touched these people in those special moments, because before and after we play our Christmas carols, we always pray for everyone, especially that they will experience something of God and His love.

We experienced afresh something of God and His love during our carol service as we looked at the Christmas story, the nativity scene and the nativity characters. By looking at all this, we saw clearly that Jesus came to earth for every single one of us, no conditions attached, no subject to status, He came for all of us and His love is for all of us unconditionally.

Marie Moreton