Last to share their interesting cargo was Foxtrot the fox. ‘I had the privilege of tagging along on flight in Ecuador; that’s an incredible country too. It is one of the most bio-diverse countries in the world. Did you know, there are over 6,000 species of butterfly there!’

‘Wow!’ said Mike, ‘that’s loads! So, what is the country like?’

‘I know there is a rainforest,’ Alpha said excitedly.

‘Yes, that’s right,’ Foxtrot continued, ‘but there are also mountains, and it’s got the sea on one side. When I was in Ecuador, we had a plane full of Christmas presents in shoeboxes. It was brilliant to see the smiles on the children’s faces as they were given a present. Some may never have received one before.’ 

‘Did you wrap all the presents?’ asked Mike.

‘No, that was done by the charity Samaritans Purse, but they were thankful we could fly them around. It might have taken them until Easter if they’d have done it all by road and rainforest trail!’ replied Foxtrot.

‘It’s lovely to encourage the children like that’ said Alpha, ‘just like Jesus did in the book of Mark: “Let the children come to Me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God.” ‘All this talk of presents, I have something special for you two!’ the fox remembered. ‘I got them from my trip to Ecuador.’ Foxtrot handed his friends each a beautifully wrapped present – Mike’s was a rondador, a traditional Ecuadorian wind instrument, and Alpha’s was some locally-made chocolate, for which they were both very grateful.