by Debbie Vanaman
As summer is now upon us and the weather is turning warmer by the day, I know it’s hard to think about Christmas and shoeboxes but this need goes on around the world 365 days a year. Children who live far from Beckley, West Virginia every day are learning, some for the first time, about the love of God and the name Jesus. We here at First Baptist have been involved in this program for well over 10 years and most of you I would say are very familiar with the name Samaritan’s Purse and Operation Christmas Child but just on the off chance you have no idea what I’m talking about, here’s the short version.
You take a trip to the dollar shore and you pick up pencils, pens, crayons, coloring book, personal hygiene items such as hair brushes or combs, soap, washcloth, a small stuff animal and a small toy. Then you find an empty shoebox and put all these things in them and the week before Thanksgiving you bring it back to the church with a shipping donation this year of $9.00 (this is an increase from previous years due to shipping costs rising dramatically) and that box will eventually find its way around the world to a child. You have a second option of checking the bulletin or this newsletter each month that tells you a particular item or items that we are collecting. Then the beginning of November our youth gather all of these items and they fill empty shoeboxes on a Sunday evening. They really get a kick out of doing this. Last year we collected enough items to do 100 shoeboxes. This year I hope it’s more.
Anyway, that’s what Operation Christmas Child is all about. Please consider being a part of this ministry to spread the name of Jesus around the world to children and eventually to their parents, families and the towns that they live in. It’s one small way to bring love to a child.
Remember – you can change a child’s life through the power of a simple shoebox.