Since 1993, Operation Christmas Child has shared the Good News of God’s love with hurting children around the world through the simplest of gifts?shoe boxes! Filled with school supplies, toys, and personal items that are packed by caring people, these boxes help introduce children to Jesus Christ. Local believers follow up with evangelistic programs, and many precious boys and girls later receive Jesus as their Savior. Without question there is no way that Operation Christmas Child would have grown or would have had the opportunity to reach out to so many children in the Name of Jesus if it were not for the involvement of like-minded churches and organizations. Apart from the Lord, first of all, and those who pack boxes, pray, and get involved, the project simply would not happen.
Over the past several years, it has been a joy and privilege to see the Lord build the partnership with one of these like-minded ministries of the Church of God, Operation Compassion. With the shared passion to reach out in the name of Jesus and mobilize individuals and churches, the simple hands-on missions opportunity of Operation Christmas Child has become a common ground of service and effective outreach.
It requires an army of folks who provide gifts, collect the boxes during National Collection Week, and keep them moving on their journey to the processing centers where they are prepared to go literally around the world. A great part of that army has been Dave Lorency and Operation Compassion, providing items to go in shoe boxes, as well as the location and manpower around the Cleveland, TN area that has resulted in the generation of some 230,000 shoe box gifts!
In all of this, we are grateful for the opportunity to serve together and that the Lord has provided the paths for us to walk together for his glory, and for the sake of the hurting and forgotten children of the world. Many Church of God churches and groups take part in this project, and there may be some on the international side who have received gifts to distribute as part of your outreach and ministry. We would love to hear from you! Tell us how OCC has served your church and special ideas you have implemented. If you receive gifts internationally to distribute to children where you minister, we’d love to hear stories from you as well. Please write to us at: occinfo@samaritan.org.
For more information about Operation Christmas Child or to order materials, go to www.samaritanspurse.org/occ [1].