FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH OF PINE
OPERATION CHRISTMAS CHILD COLLECTION
FINAL COUNT OF CHRISTMAS CHILD BOXES WAS 109
SEE YOU NEXT YEAR!
Praising God for 31 Years of Operation Christmas Child
In the summer of 1993, Samaritan’s Purse President Franklin Graham received a call from a man in England asking if he’d be willing to fill shoeboxes with gifts for children in Eastern Europe. Franklin agreed, but figured Christmas was months away. He forgot about the promise until he received a call back around Thanksgiving asking about the gifts.
Franklin asked his friend, the late Pastor Ross Rhoads of Calvary Church of Charlotte to see if he could help with the need. A Sunday shortly afterward, Pastor Rhoads demonstrated for his congregation how to fill a shoebox with simple gifts and encouraged them to include a letter to the child as well. Within weeks, the church had 11,000 shoeboxes lining their hallways.
Due to their generosity and additional gifts from Canada, Samaritan’s Purse sent 28,000 shoebox gifts to children in the Balkans that Christmas. Through these gifts, we communicated to children and their families what the angel said to the shepherds about Jesus’ birth: “I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people”
(Luke 2:10, ESV).
(Luke 2:10, ESV).
Every year since, Samaritan’s Purse has collected shoebox gifts filled with toys, school supplies, and hygiene items for children around the world. Since 1993, more than 220 million children in more than 170 countries and territories have received an Operation Christmas Child shoebox. The project delivers not only the joy of what, for many kids, is their first gift ever, but also gives them a tangible expression of God’s love.
Tens of thousands of volunteers from local churches around the world partner with us to present the Gospel of Jesus Christ at festive outreach events where children are surprised with these shoebox gifts.
Marina in Egypt: One Among Many
In the slums of the coastal city of Alexandria, Marina, 11, attended an Operation Christmas Child outreach event where she received a gift-filled shoebox. Brimming with toys such as a stuffed clownfish, a puzzle, a pen, and a stuffed cat dressed in purple overalls, the gift from someone far away delighted her heart.
“The thing I liked most from the box was this cat called Bundle,” Marina said. “I love it very much.”
But Bundle was far from the most important gift she received that day. She also learned about God’s free gift of salvation at the outreach event, and it prompted her to make a significant decision.
“When I accepted Christ, it changed my whole life.”
—Marina
Marina went on to participate in follow-up discipleship lessons where she learned about how to follow her newfound Savior and share Him with others by studying 12 Bible stories including creation as well as Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection. She said, “Each lesson, I actually learned something new about God.”
Now seven years later, Marina teaches these same discipleship lessons to other shoebox recipients at her church. She does so because she desires others to have the same input in their lives as she received and called, “Wonderful!”
She also still keeps her shoebox gift intact with all the items inside it to remind her of God’s great love for her. Marina said, “It’s not easy to keep something for seven years, but because I like it, I did!”
In addition to opening her heart up to God, the shoebox gift taught Marina a significant lesson about giving.
“I think the whole idea is that if I send something to someone, I don’t have to appear,” she said. “I don’t have to be the one that gets the credit, but God can send me something from someone I don’t know and it can change my life.”
“I don’t have to be the one that gets the credit, but God can send me something from someone I don’t know and it can change my life.”
—Marina
Marina is one of 200 million shoebox gift recipients and 50 million children discipled, but millions more boys and girls around the world need to discover God’s love for them, just as she did. God can use you to help change the lives children like her simply by packing a shoebox! National Collection Week is coming Nov. 13-20, 2023 when more than 4,500 sites will be open across the country to receive your prayerfully packed gifts.