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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Trust Like a Child

By Pat

Any time I am with my little grandchildren, I am amazed and how completely trusting they are. When I throw them in the air, they laugh, knowing I will catch them. When we're crossing a street or walk in a parking lot, they hold my hand, knowing that I know when it's safe to proceed. They never question the safety of what we put on their plates, because they know that, even if they don't like it, it's safe to eat it if it's been given to them by someone who loves them.

It reminds me and helps me to truly understand what Jesus meant when He said we must have the attitude of little children. Children trust us to care for them, keep them safe, and lead them. They know we can help with their cut and bruises, and they open their hearts to us with honesty and purity. They don't have to question our motives...they feel safe. How I want to be that way! How I want to show Jesus that same, sweet, childlike love, trust and faith, and stop doubting. I want the same hearts my grandchildren have!

"Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it."  (Mark 10:15)

Pat is a good friend who is passionate about her faith and her family. She works from home supporting a family business, and loves to read, write and garden when she can, and spends every spare moment with her grandkids.

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.

One Word At A Time: Quilt

By Ginny (MAD21)

A long time ago while visiting a friend at her house, I saw a really interesting and pretty quilt she had hanging in her room. It wasn't just any kind of quilt where all the colors matched perfectly, although somehow everything still looked beautiful together. It was obvious someone had spent a lot of time creating it. But there was something that seemed different. I couldn't figure out what it was, so I asked my friend where it came from.

It turns out that quilt was a story, Her Story. My friend explained that it was a quilt her mother had made for her. Every single piece of fabric came from a favorite item of clothing she had worn when she was a baby and young child. Somewhere in the midst of our conversation, her mother came into the room. She grinned, and joined our conversation. She began telling me about all the different pieces of fabric... and the memories that went along with them. I remember there were pieces from the outfit my friend had worn home from the hospital when she was born, pajamas, fancy dresses, and parts of t-shirts from places they liked to visit, among others. There were a few that had stains on them, but they were part of the quilt's design, too. They were part of the memories as much as any other part of the quilt. It was so beautifully made.

Many pieces part of one whole.

It's a fairly easy analogy to compare our lives to a quilt, I believe. We have many, many individual experiences, but they are all still part of one whole. As I've gotten older, I have found myself thinking of experiences I've had in my life and feeling like I had lived it in another lifetime. Things like running into an old friend or co-worker you haven't seen in years, or visiting places from your childhood. So many things have happened, so much time has passed.

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