After the Shoe Box - The Greatest Journey Begins

By Ginny (MAD21)

The The Greatest Journey is the exciting follow-up discipleship program used by Operation Christmas Child to help children become faithful followers of Jesus Christ. It is taught by teachers who speak the native languages who also live in the countries where the children are receiving shoe boxes. The program teaches them about who Christ is and His love for them. It's one of the many ways Samaritan's Purse is making a difference in the lives of families all over the world.

Here is the interview with the International Field Support Team I posted last year. They are the group who prepares the discipleship materials and trains the teachers who will be working directly with the kids.

Don't just take my word for it. Take the time to watch this awesome video with Pamela Aramburu. Go with her on a journey to find out what happens... After the Box:

This post is part of our Not Just a Shoe Box series. Come back next week to see some letters from kids who have been impacted by OCC Shoe Boxes, and The Greatest Journey discipleship program.

 These are letters from some of the kids who received shoe boxes from Operation Christmas Child. My friend Stacey Wilson from OCC was kind enough to send them to me. Many groups around the country are collecting boxes now (official collection week is November 14th-18th). However, OCC collects and delivers them all year long. I  encourage you to keep Samaritan's Purse, as well as all the children who receive these boxes in your prayers. That children all around the world will be led to the feet of Christ, one shoe box at a time.

Tasty Bites: Adventures in Freezer Cooking

By Beth

Have you ever tried freezer cooking?  Freezer cooking can fit into any lifestyle.  It can involve a very small or a very large investment of time, but this investment that can save time and money on busy days when you do not have time to cook. Stocking up a stash of homemade convenience foods also gives you complete control over the ingredients based on your family’s taste preferences or health concerns. You can prepare freezer meals for breakfast, lunch, dinner and even snacks. Now is a great time to think about doing some freezer cooking to help ease the busyness of the upcoming holiday season!  Here are some common freezer-cooking strategies:

Batch Cooking – Putting together a few meals with the same ingredient. For example, chicken is on sale, so put together several meals featuring chicken and put them into the freezer.

Cook Once, Eat Twice – Plan your meals so that you make two of each recipe. Eat one that night for dinner, put the 2^nd into the freezer for another night. Double the recipe of pancakes one morning that you have time to cook them, freeze the leftovers in bags containing the number you would need for each breakfast and reheat them in the toaster oven or microwave on a busy morning.

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OCC Shoe Box Impact Stories: Philippines

By Ginny (MAD21)

Philippines: John, age 12: "Before the gift distribution, we were asked to pray to God for things that we wanted to receive. I prayed hard that God will give me a watch. When I opened my gift I was so happy to find a watch inside, I cannot afford to buy a watch, and God gave me one. Jesus loves me so much, Jesus loves our barangay, we are very far from the city, but Jesus loves me, he gave me a special box in spite of the many children who received a shoebox, Jesus gave the watch to me. He is so good. I am also very happy to have received four pairs of socks because my sock is old. When I received my gift I remembered my attitude towards my parents, I have not always been a good boy, but now I will respect my parents and ask for forgiveness to Jesus and be good boy."

Philippines: "Michael, receiving a well packed shoebox, was very happy.  His mother is a laundry woman and his father is janitor and is partially paralyzed.  He supported his grade III schooling by driving a wooden trolley along a railroad track.  He lived in a house two meters away from the railroad track and an active member of a pioneering Presbyterian Church along a railroad track. He was very happy unpacking the gift. As with other gifts making it personalized from the giver to the receiver:  letters, cut-outs and posters were with it. His was amazing!  It came from a retired Union Pacific railroad track worker named Mr. Dale S. Allen received by a boy who supports himself by transporting people using handmade trolley in a Philippine National railroad track.  Amazing!!! God connects people by a railroad track. "He's got the whole world in His hand" I told them."

This post is part of our Not Just a Shoe Box series. Come back over the next few weeks to see more letters and videos from kids who have been impacted by OCC Shoe Boxes.

 These are letters from some of the kids who received shoe boxes from Operation Christmas Child. My friend Stacey Wilson from OCC was kind enough to send them to me. Many groups around the country are collecting boxes now (official collection week is November 14th-18th). However, OCC collects and delivers them all year long. I  encourage you to keep Samaritan's Purse, as well as all the children who receive these boxes in your prayers. That children all around the world will be led to the feet of Christ, one shoe box at a time.

God Says... "Call to me and I will answer."

By Peter Pollock

"  God doesn’t hear me..."

How often do we say, or at least THINK this?

Probably all of us know or believe that God DOES hear us… but what we’re really saying is that he doesn’t respond.

I can’t even count how many times my kids have said to me “You’re not listening” when I’m hearing everything they say.

What they really mean is “You’re not responding the way I want or when I want!”

The problem they have is that they don’t always have all of the information I have or they can’t see the bigger picture the way I can.

They use the word ‘listening’ to mean ‘responding the way I want.’

By that definition, God rarely ‘listens’ to me.

A different way of thinking.

None of us are ever going to convince God to do what we want, when we want. It’s just not going to happen.

God knows an infinite amount more than us and sees EVERYTHING.

We only see a tiny amount and we know a lot less than we think we do.

The only answer here is for us to change our way of thinking. We need to go from thinking ‘God’s not listening to me’ to ‘maybe I’m not listening to God.'

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Clear Vision

By Pat

I have finally reached the age that I need to wear glasses for reading purposes, anything close-up, so I bought some "readers" and use them for most of my smaller print reading. When used for this purpose, they are perfect. But yesterday, I left them on while I was walking around the house, and had to take them off. Everything that wasn't in my immediate sight was blurry and distorted and I'm lucky I didn't walk into a wall and bust my head open!

My faith is sometimes just like that. If I can't make sense of what is going on right now, I try to peer into the future and create scenarios for the days ahead that are blurry and distorted. I worry about the days ahead. I forget that today is the only day I have to reckon with, and that by focusing only on what's close-up and right in front of me, and trusting God with my tomorrows, I will be given what I need to successfully complete my tasks for TODAY. Only God can see the distance clearly. My perceptions may be inaccurate and unfocused, but God already has my future mapped out. If I focus on and live just for today, I can see clearly. God can handle the rest...I just need to trust and obey.

"But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."  (Matthew 6:33-34)

Pat is a good friend who is passionate about her faith and her family. She works from home supporting a family business, and loves to read, write and garden when she can, and spends every spare moment with her grandkids.