by Debbie Vanaman
Well now that fall has officially arrived, I don’t know about you but this time of year brings thoughts of how blessed I am to have a roof over my head, enough food to eat, a great job and a super family. Yes, God has truly blessed me.
Each one of us needs to count our blessings daily and thank God for each and every one of them. Children all around the world unfortunately don’t have it quite so easy. The children that Operation Christmas Child reaches have never heard the name of Jesus and some of them live in orphanages just waiting for a place to call home.
We had a speaker back in August who was one such young lady. Her testimony truly touched each person who was there to hear her first-hand account of receiving a shoebox and how her life was eventually changed for the better and now she’s a speaker sharing her testimony.
Shoebox collection week will be November 18th through November 25th. That’s when your shoeboxes need to be returned to the church so they can start their journey to eventually reach a child who will see how much someone they don’t know loves them to pack a box just for them. I will be needing help working that week and I will be in contact with you to find out when you can help.
For the month of October, I still need about 50 small hairbrushes and small toys. The dollar stores around town are a great place to shop for these items. Donation boxes are in the Welcome Center and in Fellowship Hall. I will also be needing donations of money to cover the shipping for the 100 boxes that our youth will be putting together next month. These donations can be put in with your regular offering and just mark shoeboxes on the memo line.
As always please keep shoeboxes in your prayers as they are daily finding their way into the hands of children around the world. REMEMBER – one shoebox can change a child’s life. Thanks and God bless you.