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The Joy of Receiving
Philippines
Receiving a fully-packed shoe box made one
young boy very happy. His mother is a
laundry woman and his father is a janitor
and is partially paralyzed. He helped pay
for his Grade 3 schooling by driving a
wooden trolley along a railroad track. He
lived in a house 2 meters away from the
railroad track and is an active member of a
pioneering Presbyterian Church.
The gifts were personalized for the
recipient of the box. Letters, cut-outs, and
posters were with it. His box was amazing!
It came from a retired Union Pacific
railroad worker and was received by a boy
who transports people using a handmade
trolley that runs alongside a Philippine
national railroad track. Amazing! God
connects people by a railroad track!
Malawi
From Kondwani: “Everything I got was of
great value. My mum has just given birth to
a baby boy. In the box there was a beautiful
blanket, three pairs of baby clothes, sweets
for all of us, soap, toothpaste—just to
mention a few items. All these things my
daddy could not afford to buy. Please send
our sincere gratitude to the people who sent
us these gifts. Everybody is happy. These
are gifts from God.”
Kazakstan
From a child: “Greetings! My name is Aigul.
I am 13. I am Kazakh. All the members of my
family (grandmother and grandfather,
brother, sister and parents) are Muslims.
One day my classmate Zhanna asked me to the
Zion church. She said that there would be a
great Christmas holiday. I decided to go,
and I liked it very much. There were a lot
of children. We read the Bible, prayed,
played games, and sang songs about God. My
brother, sister, and I began to go there
every Sunday. But our family was against
that—they said that we are Muslims and
forbade me to go to the church. One day when
they all went to the marketplace, I ran to
the church where there was a holiday
celebration. I received a gift from America.
At first I had been very happy, but then I
got upset that members of my family might
find out about my church visit.
We and our teachers from Sunday school
prayed for my relatives and then I went
home. My parents were at home. When they saw
me they were angry. I boldly went to the
living room and set my box there. Everyone
began to look carefully at the gifts. My
father took the cross and hung it on a ring
of keys. My mother took a postcard. Then
they asked about a meeting for adults in the
church, and all my relatives except my
grandfather went to the church next Sunday.
In the church my mother cried very much,
maybe because God touched her heart. Now we
have a Bible in the house, and every evening
from 8:00 p.m. until 8:30 p.m. we read it in
turns. Our life was changed due to God and
the gift. Thanks to Him and Jane from
America.”
Russia
From the parents of Nina:Dear friends,
We are thankful to the Lord for your kind
hearts. God made a miracle and showed His
love and care for our daughter through you.
She had been dreaming about a teddy bear!
She asked us many times to buy her one, but
we couldn’t afford it. All we could do was
to pray and believe that God would answer
her prayers.
She prayed every night before going to bed
about a teddy bear, and she dreamed about
having one and singing lullabies to him.
She got so excited when she received a gift
and opened the box. There was a teddy bear
inside the box! Just like the one she had
been dreaming about. There were also many
other toys, crayons, and candies. God
fulfilled the need tremendously. It was a
great example of God’s love to our daughter.
Now she understands that it is very
important to open up your heart and bless
someone—to serve someone. Tonight before she
went to bed she prayed and asked God to
bless those who sent her such a wonderful
gift. Then she embraced her teddy bear and
fell asleep.
Liberia
From an Operation Christmas Child ministry
partner volunteer: "The children took their
gift boxes home to their parents with large
smiles on their faces. Their parents were
very happy because this was the first time
their children had received such items. Upon
hearing the Christmas message, the children
received Christ immediately, hence turning
their backs on idol worship. Through faith
in Christ, their parents became saved, and
today a local church has been planted in the
town. The families that felt hatred for one
another are now Christian families loving
one another and worshipping God together.
Glory be to God and many thanks to Operation
Christmas Child."
The Joy of Giving
Fort
Worth, TX
From an OCC volunteer: “We had been hosting
packing parties in our neighborhood and had
really been blessed by being part of
Operation Christmas Child. When we reached
the collection center to drop off our boxes,
we saw many people had brought a lot more
boxes than we had. It inspired me to involve
more families for the next year.
I loaded my two boys, ages 3 and 4, in the
car to drive home. We had just pulled onto
the highway, and I heard the voice of my
youngest son from the back seat. He told me
that he wanted to ask Jesus to live in his
heart. I was so surprised and tried to keep
focused on my driving! I knew that the Lord
had touched his heart. We prayed right then,
and he received Christ as his Savior.
Through the packing of gifts for children in
need, my son got to see the Lord’s hand at
work. Many prayers and circumstances
prepared him for this. However, Operation
Christmas Child played an important role in
his salvation. This program ministers to and
blesses all those who participate, whether
preparing boxes or receiving them. Thank you
for allowing the Lord to minister through
your example of His sincere love.”
From
the U.S.
For a moment this morning, life seemed to
come full circle. My family now resides in
south Florida. I felt so overwhelmed with
emotion when our pastor made announcements
about Operation Christmas Child during the
morning worship. The short Operation
Christmas Child video brought tears to my
eyes.
You see, three years ago, my outreach
ministry was serving in one of the poorest
sections of Manila. That year, the children
received Operation Christmas Child shoe box
gifts.
As a pastor's kid and later a Christian
worker, I’ve never seen any program which
created such spiritual impact on the lives
of poor children, and their parents too,
such as Operation Christmas Child did. And
I’ve never seen so many happy faces nor
heard one great chorus and exclamations of
joy as I did from these 200 children who
opened their shoe box gifts all at the same
time! Their joy will remain imprinted in my
heart.
“God loves our children.” “God has seen us.”
“God reached down His hand to us.” “Jesus
loves me!” These were just some of the
comments heard for many months.
More than a hundred of those children have
continued to attend Sunday school regularly,
even after I turned over the ministry to my
brother when my family migrated to America.
Many of the parents have come to know the
Lord too.
Now, I am amazed that God is giving my
family a chance to continue participating in
OCC, this time from the other side of the
world. Life really came full circle!
Orlando, Florida
From an OCC supporter: Channel 52, a
Christian TV station that served as a
Collection Center last year, needed more
volunteers to help with the influx of shoe
boxes. They contacted the county jail and
several inmates were brought in to help.
Some of these men were Christians, but many
were not. They were so excited about
helping. They jumped right in unloading shoe
boxes from cars and loading them into the
cartons. Even their guard became caught up
in the moment and started unloading and
loading and forgetting for the time being
that his job was to watch the inmates. On
that day, one of those prisoners accepted
Jesus Christ into his heart. That is what
Operation Christmas Child did for one lost
soul.
From
the U.S.
From an 8th grader who packs boxes: “It is
gratifying that I put a smile on the face of
someone who is less fortunate than myself. I
love to find different and unique toys to
put in my box. I also love the fact that the
boxes are filled with Christmas joy—a
Christmas joy that many may not have had
before.”
Columbia, South Carolina
From a mother: “We are a home schooling
family and are striving to teach our
daughter godly ways. Your project has been
life—changing to her. She asks questions
about the children in Bosnia and prays for
them. It has opened a world she had never
known, not from the perspective of politics
and the nightly news, but through the eyes
of God. Thank you for helping us to remember
the ‘least of these.’ We appreciate your
work for Him.”
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