Your Generosity Brings Joy To Thousands
Just before Christmas 2009 Operation Christmas Child was able to ship 306,408 gift filled shoe boxes to children in Cambodia, Fiji, PNG, Samoa, Thailand, Vanuatu and Vietnam.
We have already begun receiving reports from the filed on this year’s distribution… like this one report from the first distributions in Papua New Guinea:
“After driving for another hour (from the first distribution outside of Port Moresby) we entered the jungle then arrived at the end of the road. The team from the Living Light Foursquare Church carried the boxes on their shoulders and eventually made it to the river’s edge where there was a dingy with a motor and we piled the boxes into the boat and began the journey up the river that wound back and forth.
There were village people to greet and help us with the boxes for the further 30 minute trek to the distribution.
We passed by one of the town wells, which was a hole in the ground with an open bottle on the end of a rope. At the village… there was a gathering of the local people to greet us. They had an open-air church and the kids were sitting waiting.
They said it’s like challenging us as parents, and it opens our eyes to us to see our children in different ways, to bless them.
The mood was strange as the kids seemed confused as to what was going on. They had not received a gift like this before. But, once they opened their boxes, they realised that it
was a box packed with gifts – just for them!
There was the young 10 year old boy who went through his gifts and as soon as he saw the hairbrush that was in his box, he immediately brushed his hair with a great big smile on his face.
Another 6 year old girl pulled out a soft toy and kissed it straight away like it was going to be her best friend for life.”
The gifts in the boxes really do impact each child! But there is more…
Pastor Michael Koime regularly takes boxes into isolated villages, often only able to reach these remote locations by canoe. “We put the boxes in big bags and we canoe to the village. Some villages take us one whole day of travel, getting there at ten o’clock in the night. Sometimes we have to sleep in bush camps and then have to paddle again the next day.”
Children apply themselves better to their learning after receiving shoe boes, as though their world has opened up.
Pastor Michael can see the impact on the families in the villages now. “Parents are glad and thankful. They say it’s like challenging us as parents, and it opens our eyes to us to see our children in different ways, to bless them.”
Pastor Michael became involved with Operation Christmas Child in 2006 when he wanted to reach out to many remote villages. “People were not open, so I took boxes to different villages. I wanted to start a church in my mother’s own village and my pastor asked who would pastor, and I volunteered. I took ten boxes and it really created an impact.”
Every shoe box you fill contains more than just the toys and treats. It’s also filled with promise, hope, purpose… and the chance of a better future. Some teachers even report that the children apply themselves better to their learning after receiving shoe boxes, as though their world has opened up.
Thank you so much for your generosity in touching so many lives through your support of Samaritan’s Purse.
February 10th, 2010 at 4:12 pm
We love making the shoeboxes every year, our kids look forward to helping someone who doesn’t get much, if anything at all. Having four kids of our own we can just imagine the smiles on these kids faces when they open it up. I always try and include a picture of us too, or a letter so that the child can learn a little about us and our family.
February 11th, 2010 at 11:14 pm
Last year I involved my small class (6 students) of children with disabilities in Operation Christmas Child. We cooked lunches for the staff to raise money, we shopped for items for the boxes, packed the boxes & made a little booklet with photos of the kids doing these things. At the end of the year, when compiling our school yearbook, many of the kids commented on the fun they had had buying & filling the shoeboxes. It was a good lesson in doing things for others, a valuable lesson when they are unable to do very much even for themselves.
February 15th, 2010 at 8:37 am
I have tried to make processing the shoe boxes an annual event of our family. I want my daughter to learn to appreciate the things she has (which is in abundance) and also learn to share what she has with others. We love the shopping together and also the packing of the boxes. Before my daughter was born, I used to make boy boxes only as I think the boy toys are more fun. Now with my daughter old enough to have her say, she wants to make girl boxes too because of obvious reasons. So we did. A very happy time spent packing and processing the shoe boxes. We will do it as long as it exists.
February 15th, 2010 at 7:30 pm
Through our church our family has participated in Operation Christmas Child for the past 2 years and it is such a great initiative.
Samaritan’s Purse does a great job of keeping you up to date with emails, newsletters etc of where the boxes go and what impact they have. Watching the video of how the boxes reach their destination, reading about the children’s responses and hearing how the boxes open up opportunities for local churches brings joyful tears!
We have so much and what we give seems so little and yet I guess like the loaves and fishes somehow God miraculously multiplies it.
“Giving a gift works wonders; it may bring you before important people!” Proverbs 18:16