Over Thanksgiving holiday, “It’s
beginning to look a lot like Christmas” will have an entirely different
connotation in America. People
will hustle and bustle in frenzied mad dashes to the best deals for the must have
desired Christmas gifts. I grin knowing
my Christmas shopping will be completed.
Thanksgiving Day I will usher in the holiday season with a cup of hot
cocoa, Miracle of 32nd Street and recipes of sweet indulgences awaiting
creation in the upcoming season. Or is
that the recipients in anticipation? Having
prayed over each heart filled shoebox and the child God will lead it to, I
thank the Lord for giving me the means to send gifts to His precious children
somewhere in the world. Like a child in
wonder of wrapped presents under the tree, I will anxiously await the email revealing
the location my shoebox gifts are destined for.
I first learned of Operation Christmas Child five years ago I when I happen across an article sharing a remarkable story of inspiration. Eight year old Evilyn Pinnow desired for a way to help the poor and had heard about Operation Christmas Child. She began a shoebox club that today has over 80 children meeting monthly to fill shoeboxes. The club has grown from the first one hundred boxes filling her parent's garage and now meets at her home church. I cherished the thought of filling shoeboxes with gifts that would travel to a child around the world. It has become a ministry for me, one I can work on year round, that I have long hoped to share with others.
What a rewarding
sense of holiday spirit gathering together to pack surprises, treats and supplies
for children all over the world.
Children color beautiful pictures and write letters that introduce who
they are, where they are from and end with precious wishes of good will. One year I was astonished as my gifts were part
of the first time delivery to children in Iran!
Several years ago I was shopping
for a toy to place in each box and thought, “School supplies? Who wants school supplies for
Christmas?” I was greatly
humbled as I watched video clips from children whom just received their Christmas
Shoebox. Over and over again, joyful
faces spoke with utmost appreciation for pencils, paper and reusable lunch
bags, items I take for granted. Needless
to say, once the stores began the back to school sales and teacher appreciation
week rolled around, I purchased and collected just about every school supply I could think of
and was blessed with four solar calculators to include in the older children’s
boxes!
This year’s National Collection Week is November 18-25. I so desire to extend an
invitation to all interested in joining me at my home for “Good
News, Great Joy” packing party. I will
be packing my shoeboxes Saturday November 16 beginning at 10 AM. Anyone and everyone is invited to come over
and join me as I listen to Christmas music, craft cards, write letters, enjoy tasty treats and pack
shoeboxes full of fun and needed gifts.
Bring a favorite snack to share, Christmas CD, shoeboxes and all your items to
pack. I will also have a table set up with many supplies
for children to write letters or make Christmas cards to include in to
shoeboxes. You can also include a photo of
your family and provide an address. The
child receiving your gift may write back to you. If you’ve never filled shoeboxes, to get started, decide on
whether you want to fill a shoebox for a girl or boy and then choose an age category:
2
– 4 years 5 – 9 years 10 – 14 years
Here are a few suggested items:
Toys: stuffed animals, cars and trucks, dolls,
yo-yo’s, harmonicas, jump ropes, blocks, balls, travel size magna doodle or etch-a-sketch, slinky
School
Supplies: solar calculators, pens, pencils and sharpener, markers, writing
pads of paper, crayons, drawstring fabric backpack, ruler, protractor, reusable lunch bag
Hygiene
Items: toothbrushes, mild bar soap
(in a plastic bag), comb/brush, washcloth, toothpaste, tissues
(Dentists are great resources and very
willing to donate toothbrush/toothpaste!)
Other: socks, ball caps, sunglasses, hair clips, toy
jewelry, watches, flashlights (with extra batteries), books,
coloring books, hard candy/gum (must be in original package and doubled bagged
in Ziploc).
Note: No war related toys, politically themed items, used
items, chocolate or out of date candy, liquids or lotions, medication or
vitamins, aerosol, breakable items or glass.
Target sells standard plastic shoeboxes for under $1.
This becomes a gift in itself as the child will have something durable
to keep his or her treasures in or use for storage.
If you are unable to
join us I will collect items to fill shoeboxes or filled shoeboxes and transport them to a local drop-off location. Use the link below under "To Learn More About" to make your donation for shipping and to print labels identifying the gender and age group appropriate for the gift. If you would like to sponsor shoebox(es), it costs $7 to ship an
individual box. If you made your donation online you will receive an email sharing the destination of your sponsored box. Just download the label and send it in an email attachment to be printed and placed in your sponsored shoebox(es).
You can also create a shoebox as a family or have your own packing party! It is a great deal of fun and wonderful reminder Christmas is about giving and God's greatest gift of all!
PRAY, CONSIDER, RECEIVE, SHARE
Please PRAY
for children in situations with nothing to call their own, who
have little to take their minds off the poverty, disease, famine and/or war surrounding them with the absence of
reminders they are loved. Children
like Alex Nsengimana of Rwanda who received his first shoebox in an orphanage after
the horrific genocide in 1994. Recipients
of Christmas shoeboxes have the opportunity to participate in the follow-up
program, The Greatest Journey, partnered through Operation Christmas Child with
their local church. Alex like hundreds
of other children found hope in Jesus Christ through a Christmas shoebox
gift and Christ Himself through The Greatest Journey. As Operation Christmas Child marks
its 20th anniversary stories like Alex’s can be heard
world-wide. Chronicles of how an
unadorned shoebox gift touched their lives and as adults the joy they now experience
as pastors or missionaries, often in their own villages, when they pass out Christmas
shoeboxes to the next generation or teach The Greatest Journey program. PRAY for the children who will be receiving
Christmas shoebox gifts this season.
That each gift ministers to each specific child and brings a lasting sense
of hope and God’s love for them. People
need Jesus to guide them to a loving God who is the only One who can protect
the essence of self, their soul. Jesus
is the Way, the Truth and Life. Only He can reconcile our hearts
back to God. Seek the Way. Learn
of Truth. Choose Life. May we
all not just believe in Jesus, but believe Him.
Please PRAY for those delivering Christmas shoeboxes through
the underground churches, regions where believers are being persecuted and
areas of war.
Please CONSIDER giving, through donations, packing a shoebox or volunteer
service, to Operation Christmas Child and/or locally within your own
community programs providing Christmas gifts and hope to children of our military,
those with incarcerated parents or are homeless. Guidance Counselors, social workers, etc.
often have names of children and teens you can sponsor for the Christmas holiday. Below are links to websites where you can
learn more about Samaritan’s Purse’s Operation Christmas Child.
RECEIVE
the Lord's eternal blessing for your partnership in whichever manner
He guides you in.
Please SHARE this blog with anyone you know who is interested in
supporting and/or partnering in missions work, locally or globally.
PRAYER REQUESTS
PRAYER REQUESTS
Children
surviving in the midst of war
Children
displaced in homeless shelters, missions or orphaned
Children
whose parents are incarcerated or unable to provide for them
Recipients
of Christmas shoebox gifts
The
message of Christ’s birth be focal this holiday season
Continue to pray for the ministries of Samaritan's Heart, Vive Talamanca, Pearl Process and the La Carpio church in San Jose, Costa Rica (see previous blogs August-October)
TO WATCH A STORY OF REDEMPTION THROUGH A SHOEBOX
A Gift for Prakash
Go to: http://www.samaritanspurse.org/article/a-gift-for-prakash/
The Hands of the Toymaker
Go to: http://www.samaritanspurse.org/article/the-hands-of-the-toymaker/
A Gift of Forgiveness in Rwanda
Go to: http://www.samaritanspurse.org/operation-christmas-child/alex-story/
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT
Samaritan's Purse
Go to: http://www.samaritanspurse.org/
Operation Christmas Child
Go to: http://www.samaritanspurse.org/what-we-do/operation-christmas-child/
To donate OM Costa Rica or a partner ministry of OM Costa Rica (English) -
Continue to pray for the ministries of Samaritan's Heart, Vive Talamanca, Pearl Process and the La Carpio church in San Jose, Costa Rica (see previous blogs August-October)
To donate OM Costa Rica or a partner ministry of OM Costa Rica (English) -
Note: In the additional information comment box type: “Donation for OM Costa Rica field #14500, specify the missionary, ministry project or sponsor child
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