Hope in a shoebox

Published 8:00 am Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Sunday, I had the opportunity to participate in a packing party for the shoeboxes that people can fill as part of Operation Christmas Child, a ministry by Samaritan’s Purse International Relief.

According to its website, Samaritan’s Purse is a “nondenominational evangelical Christian organization providing spiritual and physical aid to hurting people around the world. Since 1970, Samaritan’s Purse has helped meet needs of people who are victims of war, poverty, natural disasters, disease, and famine with the purpose of sharing God’s love through His Son, Jesus Christ. The organization serves the Church worldwide to promote the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.”  

Samaritan’s Purse uses Operation Christmas Child as a way to minister to children and their families who may have no other way to hear the Gospel.

Individuals and organizations pack a shoebox full of small gifts, personal care items, clothing, crafts and toys. The boxes are packed by gender and age group (2-4, 5-9, 10-14). At our packing party at Oak Grove Baptist Church, members of the church donated a lot of the items necessary for the boxes. Then members of our youth group and a few adults packed the boxes from several stations with different types of items on them, like personal items, toys, school supplies and crafting supplies. We made sure that each box included a wash cloth, toothbrush and bar of soap, but allowed everyone pick whatever else they wanted to put in their shoeboxes.

The Tifton drop-off location is still accepting shoeboxes, so if you want to pack your own, keep reading. Packing a shoebox was very simple. You can either use your own shoebox of the standard size, either of cardboard or plastic, or one given by Operation Christmas Child. If you want to wrap it, cover the box and lid separately. After you prepare your box, decide what gender and age group you want to pack for. Then, you fill it with gifts, taking up as much room as you can.

As an example, one of the boxes I decided to pack was for a girl age 5-9. I started by taking my shoebox to the hygiene station, where I placed in the wash cloth, toothbrush and bar of soap (your soap should be either packaged and/or in a container).

Other personal items that can be put in a girl’s or boy’s box include combs, hairbrush, colorful adhesive bandages, a blanket, and reusable plastic containers, like a cup, a water bottle, plate bowl or blunt-edged utensils.

For girls and boys 5-9, you can use these things, but also non-liquid lip balm, a solar-powered or hand cranked flashlight or a battery power flashlight with extra batteries, or a compact mirror. I also included a comb in my box to the little girl I was packing for.

For girls 10-14, you can also include nail clippers and files, stick deodorant, or washable/reusable cloth menstrual pads. For boys 10-14, you can also include a nail clipper and file and stick deodorant.

Next, Samaritan’s Purse recommends sending a “wow” gift for the child you are packing for, something the child will treasure and enjoy.

For girls 2-4, this can be a doll, a soccer ball with a manual air pump, a stuffed animal, an outfit of clothing, or a small musical instrument.

For girls 5-9 and 10-14, the list is mostly same, but for the doll, consider including accessories for it like doll clothes or a small doll bed. They also recommend a small backpack at this age.

For boys 2-4, the “wow” gift can be a small ball with a manual pump, a stuffed animal, an outfit of clothing, or a small musical instrument.

For boys 5-9, 10-4, you can also add a toy boat or truck, a stuffed animal, an outfit of clothing,  a backpack or a small musical instrument.

For my “wow” gift, I packed a small doll.

You can also pack school supplies or arts and crafts supplies for your child, which is something we did. I packed a notebook, crayons, pencils, pencil sharpers, glue sticks. erasers and a small foam craft with animals in my box.

For a 2-4 girls and boys, you can also pack a coloring pad, play dough and a picture book.

For 5-9 girls and boys, school supplies are good gifts as well as things  such as puzzles, binoculars, or a chalkboard with chalk. For boys, you can also include small tools or a tool set. Some of our kids packed a measuring tape or a screwdriver in the boxes for this age.

For 10-14 girls and boys, you can pack more advanced arts and crafts and school supplies.

Clothing items are also welcomed in your shoebox. For girls, this can include shirts and pants; a pillowcase dress (a loose-fitting sundress), underwear, shoes and socks, flip-flops, a wristwatch, hats, a tote bag, friendship bracelets, a bead jewelry or bead kit, and hair accessories. For boys, you can include shirts and pants, underwear, shoes and socks, flip-flops, sunglasses, hats, and bandanas. For my little girl, I packed a pack of underwear and some hair ties and clips.

Along with your “wow” gift, you can pack more toys. Our toys at the packing party included small cars, little plastic ponies, small balls, and yo-yos. I packed a small car and a ball in my shoebox. For older children, you can also add an Etch a Sketch, a small kite or frisbee, or marbles.

While we did not do this at our packing party, the last thing you can consider including in your box is a personal note to the child or even a picture of you, your family, or your group you are packing a box with. If you include your name and an address, the child may be able to write back. Samaritan’s Purse can even allow tracking for your box. According to their website, “every shoebox needs a $9 donation to provide for collecting, processing, shipping, and other project costs.” If you purchase the label online, you can receive a special label that allows you to follow your box and look up where it is going online.

To properly label your box, the website states, “As you checkout, print your unique label or save it to your computer. A receipt with your label will also be sent to your email address. Take care not to cover the barcode with tape or damage it in any way as this can affect scanning. If your label is ripped or separated from the shoebox in the packing process, it may prevent us from letting you know where your gift will be delivered to a child in need. The email receipt containing your label also will provide a link to our Follow Your Box Look-up Tool.”

Once we finished our boxes, we had our youth leaders check the box to make sure that items inside each box were appropriate and that each box was full. Then, they closed the boxes and wrapped a rubber band around them to keep the lid on while the boxes were being transported.

We also received Operation Christmas Child stickers, which some of our youth happily stuck on them for every box they packed.

Our group ended up packing over 55 boxes to send to a drop-off location to ship out to the distribution center to be sent off into the world.

According to Samaritan’s Purse website, you not only can pray for the child who will be receiving your shoebox, but every hour people who work on shipping the boxes stop for a few minutes to pray over the children who will receive the boxes as well.

Tge Samaritan’s Purse website also says “Long before shoeboxes arrive in more than 100 countries, volunteer National Leadership Teams train pastors and community leaders who want to share the message of the Gospel and bless children. The leaders learn how to host child-friendly outreach events, and how to implement The Greatest Journey follow-up discipleship program.”

The Greatest Journey is a 12-lesson discipleship program. The website says this program “includes Bible stories and Scripture memorization, they learn how to follow Christ in their daily lives as they share Him with friends and family. More than 18.9 million children have enrolled in this program since 2009.”

After they complete the program, the website states children are given a Bible in their own language that includes the New Testament and selected Old Testament stories along with a dictionary of Biblical terms and a map of Bible lands. “Complete with illustrations, it is often the first copy of God’s Word the child, or their family, will own,” according to the website.

It was inspiring to see members of my church works, especially youth, work so hard on our shoeboxes, each rushing to fill every box with the items required. We packed until we only had a few items left, which we put up to use in other ministries later, including some for next year’s Operation Christmas Child. Drop-off locations are now accepting shoeboxes until Nov. 25. So if you’d like to pack a shoebox of your own, there is still time to get one out.

 The Tifton drop-off location is at Eastside Baptist Church.

Drop-off times are Wed. Nov. 20 11 a.m.-1 p.m and 4-8 p.m.; Thurs. Nov 21 11 a.m.-1 p.m and 4-7 p.m.; Fri. Nov 22 11 a.m.-1 p.m and 4-7 p.m.; Sat. Nov. 23 10:30 a.m.-1 p.m.;Sun. 24 4-6 p.m.; and Mon. Nov. 25 9 a.m.-6 p.m.