The Wonder Wednesday Children’s Christian Education Class learned about Operation Christmas Child and how our Mission Committee supports this annual project.
Operation Christmas Child was started in 1953 by Franklin Graham and is operated by the Samaritan’s Purse organization. To participate, donors pick up a specially marked shoebox at the church. A pamphlet inside explains the program and lists suggestions for small gifts to include in the box. After purchasing items and filling the shoebox, donors may use one of the labels included in the pamphlet to indicate whether the contents of the box are for a boy or girl, and an age range. A $7 donation also needs to be included with each box to cover handling charges.
The filled boxes are collected at the church and transported by our Mission Committee to a designated nearby distribution center. The Samaritan’s Purse organization collects the boxes from around the country and makes arrangements to distribute them to needy children all over the world. Through this program, over 100 million boxes have been delivered to children in 150 countries.
The kids from the Wonder Wednesday group filled two boxes; one for a 2 to 4 year old boy, and one for a 5 to 9 year old girl. They learned about the Operation Christmas Child program and viewed samples of gifts from a completed box before leaving for their shopping trip. After traveling with their leaders to a local store, each had a chance to assist with the shopping process. The kids were challenged to find items that were age appropriate, while making sure the items were small enough to fit in the shoe boxes! After the items were purchased, the group returned to the church, and finished packing the boxes and preparing the labels. The kids had a great time experiencing the joy of giving and participating in all steps of a great mission project! #gallery-3089-4 { margin: auto; } #gallery-3089-4 .gallery-item { float: left; margin-top: 10px; text-align: center; width: 25%; } #gallery-3089-4 img { border: 2px solid #cfcfcf; } #gallery-3089-4 .gallery-caption { margin-left: 0; } /* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes/media.php */
As a reminder for individuals and families in the congregation that are participating in this project – please return your filled shoe boxes to the church by this Sunday, November 23.