Not every child is lucky enough to receive a Christmas gift, but the Samaritan’s Purse project Operation Christmas Child shoebox campaign aims to change that by bringing joy to kids’ lives.
Volunteer Mary Ellen Willis helps co-ordinate the initiative in Moose Jaw and is dedicated to bringing hope and joy to children across the planet.
“I’m addicted to Operation Christmas Child,” she laughed. “Once you see a kid get excited over a toothbrush, and you know the story behind it and you know what the journey of the shoebox has gone through … it catches you and you’re stuck with it. Not only is it blessing that kid, it blesses that family (and) the whole community.”
Willis has delivered shoeboxes to children in Costa Rica and Ecuador over the years. She delivered a shoebox to a child in an orphanage one year and saw the excitement in the boy as he showed off his new toothbrush to the other 72 kids in the building. She has also seen how important it is to provide youths with pencils so they can go to school.
She pointed out these simple aspects of life can be difficult for some North American kids to understand since they have everything.
Willis spoke about the importance of the shoeboxes during the GO event campaign kick off at Victory Church on Oct. 3. She discussed what to put into the boxes — hygiene items, pencils, and personal stories about the person who packed it, for example — and what not to pack, and the fact people can create homemade boxes.
There were also calls for volunteers to help pack the boxes during a “packing party” at Victory Church on Friday, Oct. 25 from 6 to 9 p.m. There is also a packing party at Moose Jaw Alliance Church on Thursday, Oct. 10 from 2 to 4 p.m.
The collection week for Operation Christmas Child is Nov. 18 to 24, with supporters able to drop off boxes at Victory Church on Main Street or at the Alliance Church on Neslia Place near Thatcher Drive. Boxes can also be picked up by calling 306-630-2581.
Besides the gifts in the box, there is also an opportunity to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with these kids, Willis explained. Similar to Vacation Bible School, the youths will be offered the chance to take part in a 10-week program that teaches them more about God. They would receive a Bible in their own language if they complete the program.
There would then be people in that country who are trained to mentor those children spiritually, similar to a Sunday school teacher.
Willis has led four packing parties at Victory Church. She believes the church itself has been packing shoeboxes for at least 15 years.
During last year’s packing party at the church, volunteers packed 737 shoeboxes in three hours. In Moose Jaw overall, roughly 1,800 boxes were packed and shipped.
“We’ll see how many we pack this year,” Willis said. “God will lead the way.”
Besides packing, there is the opportunity to travel to Calgary with Willis and a small team from Dec. 2 to 4 to help at the processing centre. Volunteers from across Canada look through the boxes and remove anything that is unsafe. They then replace the object with something more useful.
“It’s just weird with the way things happen with the shoeboxes and all the wonderful stories that happen with them … ,” Willis added. “We have to leave it in (God’s) hands. We do that a lot.”
