OCC Shoe Box Impact Stories: Columbia & Ukraine

By Ginny (MAD21)

Colombia: Karina, age four: "Karina belongs to a violent family with low resources. In December, she saw a doll she really liked and asked her mom for it. Her mom said she should ask the Holy Spirit for it. The girl prayed for it and, when she was invited to a distribution, she opened her shoe box and the first thing she saw was the doll she had asked God for. Her joy was enormous and her faith to God got stronger because she knew that her Father always listen to her."

Ukraine: "My name is Lisa, I am 13 years old. I live in Kyiv. One winter, I looked out the window and saw some people making a stage in the yard. They have brought big boxes, switched on the music. I liked this music and I went to see what will happen next. So, first I saw there was a man. He came out to the stage and prayed, but not like in the church. I understood everything and it seemed to me that he spoke with God. Then was a puppet theater, songs and poems about God. And then people from the church gave gifts and booklet for everybody who came. Having opened my gift, I saw the bright hat and gloves! It was so beautiful! We do not have such in Ukraine!  In general, gift is not so important as the heart of people who did it for me. Then we were invited to come to church for a children's Sunday School and I went along with my friend!  We are going to this church for more than two years and now we know a lot about God! Thanks to the people who brought these gifts and those who distributed them to us and talked about God!"

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.

OCC Shoe Box Impact Stories: Moldova (Luba Travis)

By Ginny (MAD21)

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.

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.

OCC Shoe Box Impact Stories: Lithuania & Uganda

By Ginny (MAD21)

Lithuania: Domas, age 12: "I was dreaming of going to the swimming pool with my class, but I didn't have rubber slippers. I didn't dare to ask my parents to buy the ones because we haven't got enough money even for food. In my shoe-box found what exactly I needed - rubber slippers! On Sunday I run to church with my friends to thank Jesus for such a nice present."

Uganda: Betty, age 10: "Betty was visiting a family member for a week and then she was invited to the distribution. When she received a gift box that day, she was touched and we could see tears flow from her eyes which was a sign how this gift was special to her. When our volunteers asked her why she was crying she said she could not believe all the items in the box belong to her. She shared a story of how she missed school for a week because she did not have a pencil to use."

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.

Not Just A Shoe Box Full of Cool Stuff

By Ginny (MAD21)

I love this time of year. Fall is my favorite for many reasons: Beautiful colors; sweaters and sweatshirts; playtime outside without getting eaten alive by mosquitoes; and soccer season are among the things I enjoy. But one of the things I really look forward to is talking to people about one of my most favorite ministries, Samaritan's Purse and Operation Christmas Child.

Operation Christmas Child began in 1990 after a Welch couple viewed a television program depicting the horrors that children faced while living in Romanian orphanages. Heartbroken at the sight of malnourished children suffering in overcrowded orphanages, Dave and Jill Cooke began a local campaign to collect Christmas gifts for the children of war-torn Romania.  In less than three months, the Cooke’s had rallied support and launched a convoy of nine trucks, carrying £500,000 in aid supplies and thousands of gifts packed inside conveniently sized shoe boxes to bring hope and share the love of Jesus with children in Romania. Three years after its onset, the Wales-based Operation Christmas Child merged in a partnership with Samaritan’s Purse, the international Christian relief organization headed by Franklin Graham. The 1993 merger allowed Samaritan’s Purse to share its 20 years of expertise in relief and aid work with Operation Christmas Child, and expanded the reach of the shoe box gifts to over 28,000 children in the first year. (Source: Stacey Wilson, OCC)

Operation Christmas Child has delivered more than 85 million gift-filled shoe boxes to needy boys and girls in 138 countries worldwide since 1993. The ministry is such a blessing. They don’t just walk into communities and give out the boxes, it’s not just charity, and it’s not random. The OCC Shoe Box ministry is part of a larger program that reaches out to families in countries all over the world where Samaritan’s Purse is established (Latin America, Africa, Haiti, Mexico, Columbia, and many more). They work with churches, hospitals, and other organizations to minister to communities. The Leadership Teams personally invite children in the area to come to a party where they play games, sing and listen to a message… and receive an OCC Shoe Box lovingly packed and prayed over by families all around the world.

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God Says... "Don't Judge Me, But I'll Judge You!"

By Kely Braswell (Dangerous Breeze)

You Say: "Other people have so many problems. Why can't they get over their issues?""

God Says: Look a little closer. Judge not, lest you be judged. Judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment"

I’ve got a huge problem.

One of my friends is a pedophile, and I don’t know it.

Perhaps two. Or more.

And what’s more, I’ve been nice to him. (or her).

And I have another problem.

One of my friends is having an affair. And I don’t know that either.

And there may be more than one.

And one of my friends has a deep problem with obsessive lust. Actually, many, many of my friends do. They view pornography, ALL the time.

But I’m not sure — at least not always sure — which ones they are.

A couple are alcoholics. A few more do drugs of one kind or another.

I can’t believe I hang out with these people. And I even love them.

They sit right beside me, every week, in church. If I knew it, I'd blow them up.

But there’s a dark secret in their lives, too, and they don’t know it.

Unaware, they are. (As Yoda would say.)

One of their friends is very, very selfish. One of their friends judges others. One of their friends has pride. And anger issues. And can be very impatient with his kids, sometimes in an incredibly jerkish, scary way.

And they may not know it, because their friend has learned to hide it pretty well, especially in a group. Especially in a “christian” group. Really well, at church, especially.

And on top of all that, their friend is a pastor.

And he is me.

Right there in their midst.

If they only knew.

"Kely is a church planting team trainer with Antioch Ministries, International." He has a B.S. in Secondary Education, and he’s a lawyer on top of that (go figure that combination!). He has also been an overseas church planter off and on for the last 20 years. Kely is a husband and father to six, and enjoys running, reading and writing. You can find more of his writing over at his blog: Dangerous Breeze.