Love in a shoebox
When I was a kid, before we could buy all those different storage boxes, tubs and containers, I used shoeboxes to store my treasures. My shoeboxes contained baseball trading cards, foreign coins, exotic pictures of far-away lands and all manner of miscellaneous stuff.
In recent years, I have discovered a much better use for a shoebox. It is Franklin Graham’s “Operation Christmas Child.” An extension of Graham’s ministry called, “Samaritan’s Purse,” OCC creates shoeboxes full of toys, toiletries and spiritual encouragement for children around the world.
The shoeboxes are delivered as part of a Christian Gospel presentation. Kids receive a booklet, “The Greatest Gift,” and are offered a 12- week program called, “The Greatest Journey.” Over two million children have made decisions to become Christians through OCC.
My wife and I have participated in OCC locally for a number of years. New Community Church and many other churches in our area and around the country, fill shoeboxes with crayons, pencils, notebooks, stuffed animals, wash cloths, soap, balls and all sorts of toys.
The shoeboxes are gathered locally and transported to eight processing centers. Our nearest one is in the Chicago area. This year, my wife and I drove to Chicago to work there. What a fantastic experience!
Hundreds of volunteers gather in a large warehouse as trucks deliver shoeboxes from all around the Midwest. Training and orientation are provided by staff. Volunteers open the shoeboxes for inspection and re-packaging.
Despite instructions given to local groups about what and what not to pack, some items need to be removed. Liquids, toothpaste, food items and aerosols may not be shipped. These items are removed and given to homeless shelters.
Some boxes contain cash or checks which are removed and used to pay for the shipping of the shoeboxes. Some boxes are not full, so we added items that have been donated.
I was very impressed with the organization and size of the Chicago processing center. There were 48 lines manned by volunteers. Other processing centers had 200 lines! After inspection and repackaging, the boxes were placed into large cardboard containers and palletized for loading into containers that went to ships and aircraft.
The hundreds of volunteers and staff were smiling and enjoying the pleasant company of people who wanted to bring joy to children at Christmas. Carols played over the loud speakers throughout the day. Regular breaks featured a chaplain who led us in prayer for these boxes and updated us on our progress. The Chicago center goal was 350,000 boxes processed and shipped.
Franklin Graham visited our center one day to thank us and pray with us. He told us that when OCC began several years ago, they shipped a few thousand boxes. This year, OCC expected to ship about 9 million! This experience was a highlight of my life.
You can look up Operation Christmas Child on the internet for more information or contact our local representative, Mike Laman at 567-204- 4119 or email him at rmlamanocc@yahoo.com.