Operation Christmas Child Stories Part 2

Each year Foothills has had the privilege of working with Operation Christmas Child (OOC). This great organization has blessed so many lives, everything from giving them hope in desperate situations at orphanages to receiving a GIFT for the first time from someone.

Kerry Williams, who leads our Operation Christmas Child effort (as well as acting as the local rep. for OCC on this side of the valley) has already shared 3 amazing stories with us and in this post we’d like to share Hat in a Box and Letters.

Hat in a Box

Jennifer Young from our church has a nonprofit called Hat in a Box. Jennifer coordinates knitters from all over the USA who knit caps of all sizes for cancer patients. A couple of years ago, Jennifer and I were just acquaintances at church. We sat together one Wednesday night for dinner. She asked if I was the one who coordinated the OCC project and I said yes. She asked if I could use some hats to go in our BOXES and I SAID YES! Her organization gives us 300 hats each year. When people come in to drop off boxes I ask them if they would like to pick a hat to go in their boxes.  They are lovely caps of all different designs.

I display the hats during collection week for folks to select a cap.  OCC and Jennifer both have the same idea, a gift out of the inside of  a box. These hats are created with love and used for two very different purposes.

Letters

We encourage folks to write a short note and send a picture and most IMPORTANTLY to pray over the box and to continue to pray that God will use the box to further the gospel. All children across the world are given an opportunity to return to a church to take a discipleship course called the Greatest Journey which helps them understand the gospel. Many of us have received letters from the children we have sent boxes to over the years. I’ve received two and John DeKatch has also received a couple. Sometimes if people include their addresses, a letter will make it back to them.

 More About Operation Christmas Child

I have about 15 volunteers who help in one capacity or another at our church. Each year, some folks just drop off bags of crayons, toys, toiletry items, etc and don’t pack a box. I gather all these things together and have extra empty boxes on hand and each year God sees that these are filled to the last items. It’s all in His hands and He does a wonderful job of making sure everything works out perfectly.

Most people can’t afford to go on a mission trip across the world, but they can afford to be a missionary in a box, and spread the gospel with a simple gift in honor of THE CHRISTMAS CHILD, Jesus. God knows where each box is going and what impact it is going to have. We have to trust it to His perfect will.