Operation Christmas Child

This video was shown today in church & I couldn't help but sit there watching it in tears:

Operation Christmas Child - have you heard of it?? It is the world's largest Christmas charitable project known that uses gift-filled shoeboxes to share God's love & word with needy children around the world.

The organization Samaritan's Purse has collected & delivered more than 113 million gift-filled shoeboxes to children in over 150 countries. More than 500,000 volunteers worldwide are involved in collecting, shipping & distributing these shoebox gifts. Before shipping, the volunteers take each shoebox & include a little book inside of it called "The Greatest Journey" which is a 12 lesson discipleship program to help children know & follow Jesus Christ.

While watching this video, I was in awe that these kids were SO excited over a small little box packed with simple things that we here in America take for granted. I had never heard of Operation Christmas Child before today & am sad I haven't participated in this wonderful charity before. 

An anonymous person in our church donated all the plastic bins for our congregation to use & we were to take as many boxes as we wanted & fill them up. I took two boxes - one for a boy & one for a girl. I chose the age group 2-4 years old & then set out to fill them up with fun & much-needed items for a child. 

Here is a picture what I put in the little boys box:

It included: Play-Doh, crayons, a coloring book, stickers, Matchbox cars, a bouncy ball, suckers, 2 little story books, toothbrushes, toothpaste, bar soap, a washcloth & a little stuffed animal. There was also an information page you could fill out with a picture of yourself, a questionnaire & your address to include with the shoebox.

The little girl's box was identical except for the stuffed animal. Here are the completed & packed boxes:

After I closed them up, I prayed over the boxes & for the child that was about to receive them & we delivered them to church the next Sunday where our Pastor prayed over all of them as well. I really hope these little boxes put a smile on the little child's face that is receiving them & that they enjoy all the things I put in there!

This was so much fun to do & it makes my heart full knowing that it is going to make someone so very happy! I can hardly wait until next year to be able to do this again!!

Update:12/23/14
Today I received an email that both my boxes were being sent to Mexico. In my boxes I included a picture of our family, shared a little bit about us & included my address so I am hoping the family contacts me & we can keep in touch.