For Mona Bruynooghe, Operation Christmas Child is more than distributing shoeboxes full of goods.
In 2009, Costa Rica endured a major earthquake. Bruynooghe was travelling in the country as part of Operation Christmas Child, and witnessed the after effects of the catastrophe.
“We were looking out the window and there was this big gulley and it was a bit of a valley, but it was the epicenter of the earthquake,” Bruynhooge said. “Everything kind of had fallen in. Houses were in there, the power poles were hanging like match sticks being held by the wire.”
Bruynooghe said the shoeboxes they delivered offered help and hope.
Samaritan’s Purse, the organization of which Operation Christmas Child is an ongoing project, brought blankets and water to affected areas when Bruynooghe was in Costa Rica. The organization carries out projects in war-torn and poverty-affected regions of the world. Participants in Western countries fill shoeboxes with toys, hygiene items and school supplies and send the shoeboxes to various locations around the world. Operation Christmas Child excludes war-related toys, liquids and chocolates from shoeboxes.
“Samaritan’s Purse is an amazing organization,” Bruynooghe said. “They look after the physical needs as well as addressing spiritual needs.”
Bruynooghe, along with 23 other Canadians including six local residents, left on July 4 to travel to Senegal. Bruynooghe said they plan to travel to locations around the country’s capital Dakar to distribute Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes. They’ll also witness two groups of students graduating from a Samaritan’s Purse program called The Greatest Journey, a 12-lesson Bible student course. Bruynooghe said her trip will include parishioners from Territorial Drive Alliance Church and St. Joseph Calasanctius Roman Catholic Church.
Bruynooghe began as project leader at Territorial Drive Alliance Church promoting Samaritan Purse’s ministry, then became an area co-ordinator who collects shoeboxes and oversees collection centres. She travelled to Paraguay in 2010.
Operation Christmas Child is a popular project, especially for churchgoers and Canadian students around Christmas time. According to Samaritan Purse’s Canadian website, the program has distributed over 135 million shoebox gifts worldwide, while Canadians have donated more than 730,000.
The organization has faced criticism. Poet Emily Joy writes that she disagrees with the views of Samaritan Purse’s CEO Franklin Graham, that toys in shoeboxes can be culturally irrelevant, and that the program promotes a narrative of white people as saviours, as opposed to local people. Joy also criticizes the program’s evangelism.
“Sure, you and your church may not include tracts or religious material along with the toys and toothbrushes you pack, but Operation Christmas Child absolutely does. And the literature they include is of Graham’s particular brand of Christianity – fundamentalist, conservative, and evangelical.”
Bruynooghe hopes to spread the Christian message.
“Ultimately, I hope [the children] find Jesus as their savior through that experience,” Bruynooghe said. “Not that God is going to instantly change everything and make them not suffer or not poor anymore, but that they would know him and find their hope in him.”
In opposition to some criticism, Bruynooghe said in her experience, the children’s parents appreciate the gifts.
“What I’ve seen in other distribution trips I’ve taken, the parents are very excited and happy, because it’s ‘somebody knows we’re struggling here’ and it gives them hope,” Bruynooghe said. “The parents are so grateful.”
Bruynooghe said she wants to offer the shoebox recipients hope.
“I hope to make a difference in the lives of the people there. To give them hope, to give them something to look forward to that there’s more than their here and now. There’s more out there, and just to give them hope to carry on, and to be an encouragement to the leadership in Senegal [who] work to improve their own situation.”
