Operation Christmas Child

Several weeks ago, I posted about our girls' excitement as we prepared for Operation Christmas Child.  Through the ministry of Samaritan's Purse, we pack and send shoeboxes filled with goodies to children all over the world!

Four years ago, a few of us decided to make packing the shoeboxes a church ministry sponsored by our Sunday School children. The adults do the shopping and bring in various hygiene items, school supplies, and toys to pack on the first Saturday in November. The first two years we participated in Operation Christmas Child, we set a goal of 100 shoeboxes for our church. Each year we reached our goal, but then we decided to change our strategy a bit last year. My sister-in-law had been in prayer regarding this ministry and suggested we prayerfully ask God to determine the number of shoeboxes we were to send in His name. We held a "shoebox drive" in September to collect the many shoeboxes everyone had been saving. Our total count was 300 boxes!  We weren't totally sure if we would fill them, but once again, God made it happen.  Considering we are a small church, it was obvious to us that this was blessed by God.

This year, we continued to place our faith in God and allow Him to lead us in this ministry. Just a little over a week ago, we packed 312 shoeboxes! This has truly become a ministry of the church family as we wrap ALL those shoeboxes, gather/sort/count ALL our supplies, pack ALL the boxes, check ALL those boxes (sometimes twice!), pray for ALL those boxes and their recipients, and finally deliver ALL those boxes to a drop off center where they will begin their journey to the hands of a child. We are so blessed by the parents, children, and college students who give up their busy Saturday morning to help us. 

This week is packing week for Operation Christmas Child, so you still have a chance to pack a box and get it to a drop-off center. Their website has all the information you need to pack a box and local drop-off points.

Here are some of the things we have learned as we have packed for a large group...

1. Since it is uncool to send a box with a toothbrush, but without toothpaste (or vice-versa), it helps to rubberband them together ahead of time.  (Trust me when I say that it really stinks to try and figure out which shoebox doesn't have the toothbrush in it at the end of a long packing day!)

2. Since soap has to be placed in a baggie anyway, it makes life easier to put a washcloth in there too. 

3. Set up your packing area ahead of time.  We usually set up our tables the night before so that there is less chaos the day of packing. 

4.  Have a check point, especially if lots of kids are doing the actual packing. We have between three to five "checkers" who check each box before it is cleared.  We check to make sure we don't send pencils without sharpeners (totally uncool) or flashlights without batteries.  We also place a picture of our Sunday School students in the box and label/rubberband it. 

5. Pay for shipping online. If you pay for shipping ahead of time, you can print labels for the shoeboxes and track where they end up! It is so exciting to know that the shoebox you diligently packed ended up halfway around the world!

6. Pray, Pray, Pray! Pray for the children who receive these boxes and pray that it helps to open their hearts to our Lord and Saviour.

This experience continues to bless our family and our church- I hope you give it a try too!  Here are some other links about Operation Christmas Child you might enjoy:

Operation Christmas Child

Our Family for His Glory

Impress Your Kids

Edited to show the girls once we packed up the vehicles to drop off all these shoeboxes! They were packed in soo tight!