by Debbie Vanaman
It’s October, fall has officially begun and shoeboxes is in full swing again this year. Your donations of school supplies and personal items were tremendous. For the month of October, we will continue to collect personal items and will also be collecting small toys (stuffed toys, trucks, flashlights, & batteries, etc). These can be left in the large Samaritan’s Purse cartons located in the sanctuary and also in fellowship hall
One of our OCC staff people went on a mission trip last year to Haiti and she shared a story with us. They arrived at a local church to find over 300 children waiting for them. They gathered them all inside, told them why they were there to talk about Jesus and to present them with a special gift. When they started counting heads and shoeboxes, they realized they only had half the boxes they needed. So they had to divide them into the group that would be getting a box and those that wouldn’t. It broke their hearts to have to tell these children that they would not be getting a shoebox that day. Luckily (or maybe how God planned it) several weeks later after they had left a second shipment of shoeboxes came in and those children were given their boxes. This is why it’s so important to support this ministry both with your boxes and your prayers.
A church-wide packing party is in the planning stages at this point to pack our shoeboxes – Remember I asked for 75 boxes. I’ll keep you posted on the date. I will also be asking for some helping hands during collection week to receive and pack shoeboxes as they come in. Don’t wait for me to ask you – ask me how you can help. You can catch me in the church office any day or call the office at 304-253-4252 and leave a message for me. As always, thanks for your support and continue prayers for this ministry.