It's my favorite time of year!! No,
not fall....
shoebox time!
Every year I look forward to this time,
packing shoeboxes for children around the world. All year long we
buy items to fill our shoeboxes....school supply deals in July and
August, soap, washcloths, toys, candy deals in October, the fun lasts
all year long.
This year we had a lot of fun taking old crayons and
melting them down to make multi-colored crayons for the boxes.
We
also made candy canes out of pipe cleaners and red and white beads.
We fill the box up with school supplies, toys, and much, much more!
This year we included blow up globes for their school!
This program is called Operation Christmas Child and is run through
Samaritan's Purse. Samaritan's Purse president is Franklin Graham,
Billy Graham's son. Our family has participated in this program for
many years. They take these shoeboxes mostly into 3rd
world countries and distribute them to the children there. There is
no requirement on the part of the children-they don't have to attend
school or church-they just have to show up! For many of these
children, this is the only gift they have ever received. It also
allows some of them to go to school for the first time because some
of the schools require the children to have school supplies and since
their families have no money, they cannot afford school supplies.
When they receive the shoebox with school supplies in it, they know
they will be able to go to school! These boxes provide hope in
hopeless situations, they provide a future, they show love.
And yes,
Operation Christmas Child does talk to them about Jesus and God, BUT
they do not pressure them nor is becoming a Christian a requirement
for receiving the shoebox. Shoeboxes are given out to ALL children,
sometimes they even take the boxes to the childrens house!
Collection week this year is November 18-25. You can go to
www.samaritanspurse.org
to find your local drop-off location. It also has all the
instructions on how to fill a box and, if you would rather, you may
sponsor a box. They request $7 for shipping but not everyone can
afford that. You can help someone else ship their box and bring joy
and love to child living in a refugee camp or extreme poverty.
Shoeboxes are distributed in 148 countries and 103,720,570 shoebox
gifts have been shipped worldwide since 1993!
facebook.com/OCCshoeboxes
twitter.com/OCC_shoeboxes
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