By Shanti Hahler
For The Herald
Rebecca Longdon of Marysville is a mother, a grandmother and a woman on a mission.
Longdon, 61, makes felt hand puppets for children in need and sends them all over the world.
Recent packages have been sent with missionaries to Guatemala, Pakistan, Africa and Alaska and have also been donated through her own church, Marysville First Assembly.
The batch of free puppets she is finishing up now is for the children of New York who were victimized by recent terrorist attacks.
"I just want to hug all those babies and give them love. I want them to know everything will be alright," Rebecca Longdon said.
She calls her production "Hands of Love International Puppets" and says that her inspiration comes from God. Longdon pays for all her materials.
Several years ago, Longdon and close friend Wendy Orr ran a small preschool. As an art project, Longdon cut out hand puppets and let the kids decorate them.
After she saw the reactions of the children, Longdon knew they could brighten the life of any child, especially those in need.
When Longdon heard of an upcoming mission trip to Honduras through a local church, she packed up her first box of more than 300 hand puppets. Though the trip ended up being diverted, the puppets were still taken to many children who needed help in Mexico.
The puppets are formed of the same felt cutout design. But no two puppets are alike. Each takes no less than two hours to create. All the stitching is done by hand, using a blanket stitch that has more strength than machine stitches, Longdon said.
Every hand puppet Longdon made for the children of New York wears the face of a smiling child and is covered in a bright-colored design made of glitter, glue and sequins. Some puppets are decorated with lighthouses to represent hope, and some wear festive outfits made of lace and ribbon. Each has a head of hair made from yarn, and some don necklaces made out of faux jewels.
"I have to give all the glory and all the credit to the Lord. Otherwise, there would be no way I could come up with all the different designs," Longdon said.
And on the back of every puppet Longdon creates, she sends a message from her heart: "Jesus Loves You," and is signed with her initials and the date.
Longdon has been making the puppets for about two years, and said she works on them about five hours a day. Several times she has spent almost 14 hours in a day working to finish a package of puppets.
"I’ll make them as long as my fingers will do it … I just want the kids to know that they are loved," Longdon said.
As she puts the final touches on her last few puppets, she is worried that the recent anthrax scare will prohibit her package from reaching the David Wilkerson Times Square Church in New York. But that does not deter Longdon.
"My work is my blessing to the Lord," Longdon said. "It is my gift to the children he so wonderfully and carefully created … I just attached a story about the puppets and a few pictures to the outside of the box. I just know they will make it to New York."
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