Children all over the world need to hear the name of Jesus and Operation Christmas Child has been doing just that for over 25 years and this year is no exception. A nation-wide goal has been set at 11 million shoeboxes and while that may seem like an outrageous number in these epidemic times, nevertheless if we don’t reach for what seems like impossible, we will never know what we can do once God’s people take control of a situation.
I want to thank you for your prayers and support of this ministry over the 20 plus years that First Baptist has been involved. Thousands and thousands of boxes have been received during those collection weeks and without your support, this task would not have been accomplished.
Summertime is usually when the school supply sales start and this is why I always ask for school supply donations during July and August. With these uncertain times even as far as starting school in the fall, I am still asking you to browse through the school supply sale ads for pencils, pens, crayons, erasers, and small note pads for our shoeboxes. If you feel uncomfortable going into the stores, which I totally understand, I will be glad to do your shopping for you. Just mail or drop a check by the church and be sure to make a note that it is for shoeboxes in the memo line and I will take it from there.
These are trying times and even Samaritan’s Purse has had to make adjustments in our collection efforts to try and keep everything safe for our volunteers. As always, please keep this ministry in your prayers as they continue to spread the name of Jesus to children around the world one shoebox at a time.