Huntley preschool has Messiah on the move
The students could tell he'd been so loved and well taken care of.
He had a new homemade "VeggieTales" blanket to snuggle with when he needed a nap.
He wore a fur poncho and snow boots to keep him toasty warm on his journey to Alaska.
And he sported fashionable sunglasses for his jaunt to the Sunshine State.
Though they were thrilled with all of the new clothes and pictures he came home with, they were most happy that he was back home with them.
Just a couple of months ago the students at Faith Community Church Preschool in Huntley had wrapped up their stuffed Jesus doll and sent him on a cross-country trip. They packed him lovingly in a box with a passport, the school's signature T-shirt and pictures to remind him of home.
After traveling thousands of miles and visiting 10 different Christian preschools across the country, the Jesus doll finally returned to their doorstep in Huntley this month.
"He just flew away and came back after he flew around the world, and I was so excited because I missed Jesus," 4-year-old Lindsay Spring of Algonquin said.
The school sent the Jesus doll on his journey, hoping to share their love for Jesus with other children across the country.
The journey also was part of Faith Community's mission to raise a spiritual child.
When the school first purchased the Jesus doll, the teachers would use him to say that God is "all around us," said Michelle Sullivan, preschool director.
But the students had a little trouble with that concept. They would look over their shoulders and try to see where he was, and how he could be all around them, Sullivan said.
So they came up with a new way to reinforce the concept, and decided to send the doll all around the country, while still keeping him close in their hearts.
While still on his journey, the Jesus doll would send letters back to the students, telling them he'd seen the Smoky Mountains or met some cute new kids -- just like the ones he'd left back home.
The letters were fun to read, but the kids were the happiest when the Jesus doll himself finally came back home.
They all gathered in the chapel to greet him, and one by one took turns pulling what he brought home out of his box.
Once the students had unpacked everything, Sullivan asked them who sent Jesus on his journey -- who started his adventure.
"We did," they shouted.
"Yes, you shared your beliefs and what you learned here at preschool," Sullivan told them.
Spreading the word of God and letting the light of Jesus shine across the country was the goal of the project, Sullivan said.
"I hoped through this they would understand and have an appreciation for sharing the word of God," she said.
"It helped them to understand that they're not alone, that other people share the path they're on and their love for Jesus," she said.
The project also turned into a different kind of learning experience for the students as well, because they heard news from other parts of the country.
They saw pictures of students in Florida wearing flip-flops in the winter, and heard how the students in Alaska go through long periods of darkness over the winter.
They also looked at maps, and learned a bit about geography as they tracked Jesus' journey.
When first mailing out Jesus, Sullivan also included questionnaires for the schools to fill out. They answered queries about the weather in the different locales he visited, what the students like to do with the Jesus doll and what they do in their preschool.
The schools also sent back pictures of the places he visited: as far north as Anchorage, Alaska; as far south at Longwood, Fla.; as far west as San Diego; and as far east at Barrington, N.H.
In the photos, the students saw children their age in Portland making the fur poncho before they sent the Jesus doll off to Alaska.
They saw some kids singing "Happy Birthday" to the Jesus doll at Christmas, and he posed with his very own birthday cake.
They even got to see the Jesus doll join the Men's Breakfast at one church, and be a part of the service at another.
"It was great to see it touched so many people, not just the children," Sullivan said.
Now that Jesus is back home, Faith Community Preschool is sharing him.
He'll spend a week in each of the different classrooms so the students can learn more about his journey, and dress him up with his new sunglasses, poncho, hand-knitted mittens and skull cap.
He brought so much home with him, that when he left, he cost $27 to ship, and when he returned, he cost $43.10 in postage, Sullivan said.
"Along the way, he picked up so much from so many places. Hopefully our students and the students he met have walked away with an understanding that they're not alone in this world," she said.