Happy Birthday, U.S.A.!

Do you live in the United States of America? And do you get mail? Do you get a WORLDkids magazine in the mail? 

If you said yes to any of these questions, you benefit from the U.S. Postal Service. 

America turns 250 next year. That means it’s also the birthday of the U.S. Postal Service.

Well, sort of. In reality, versions of the Postal Service existed even before the United States did!

Let’s go way back to 1775. The American colonies were at war with Great Britain. Many colonists wanted to be free from British rule. The mail helped spread ideas about freedom. Postal carriers delivered letters, newspapers, and pamphlets to the Continental Army and people living in the colonies. 

Stephen Allen Kochersperger used to be a postmaster. He is also a historian. “People were reading, getting ideas of what it would be like to be an independent country,” he says. It’s possible there would be no United States of America without mail delivery, he claims.

Delivering news and views was key for a brand-new nation. It’s important now too. Christians should be informed about ideas, world events, and trends. (That includes you. Good thing you’re reading WORLDkids!) Understanding the news helps us pray. It helps us see God at work. 

Today, it takes about three days to send a letter from one side of the United States to another. And for folks used to email and texts, that feels slow. We call it “snail mail” for a reason! But early Americans would find our “snail mail” quite speedy.

Why? We share ideas using words. Believers in Christ can be ready to “proclaim the gospel to the whole creation” by all means available. (Mark 16:15)