Imagine never having received a gift. Now imagine receiving your very first gift. For boys and girls in many parts of the world, receiving their first gift happens because of a project called Operation Christmas Child, which is a project of the Christian relief organization Samaritan's Purse.
Each fall in Canada and many other countries, shoe boxes full of gifts are collected and distributed to third world countries and to areas of the world that have been devastated by famine, war and natural disasters.
In 2010, Weyburn and area collected 1290 boxes and over 640,000 boxes were collected in Canada. The goal is to increase Weyburn's total by 10% this year. Samaritan's Purse has collected 86 million gift-filled boxes and distributed to 130 countries worldwide since 1993. The shoe boxes from this area are destined for Argentina, Equatorial Guinea, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone and Venezuela.
In February 2011, Bev Alexander of Weyburn had the privilege of traveling to Lebu, Chile as part of a shoe box distribution team. Lebu is in the area of Chile that was affected by the earthquake of February 2010. The team spent nine days distributing over 8,000 shoe boxes. Many shoe boxes do not reach their destination country before Christmas, but to the many boys and girls receiving the boxes the timing doesn't matter. What does matter to them is that somebody they don't know and will never meet has taken the time to send them a gift just to make them feel special and loved. It's easy to make someone smile, even by giving the practical gifts most children in Canada would take for granted.
Anyone can take part in Operation Christmas Child. Simply decide if you want to do a box for a girl or a boy and which age (choices are 2 to 4, 5 to 9, or 10 to14), and take a box the size of a shoe box and fill it full of treasures that would make a child smile. Get creative. The process of filling the boxes is a fun experience in giving for the whole family. Though any shoe box can be used, official Samaritan's Purse boxes are provided at the local collection centre, the Weyburn Free Methodist Church.
Operation Christmas Child encourages that each box include school supplies such as pencils, pens, erasers, pencil sharpeners, crayons, pencil crayons, calculators, notebooks. For some children this will mean the difference of attending school or not. Also include hygiene items such as toothbrushes (although please note that no toothpaste is allowed due to customs regulations), brushes, combs, hair items, jewelry. And, of course, one might also include in the box small toys such as balls, marbles, skipping ropes, slinky, dolls, coloring books, trucks, cars. It is also fine to include clothing such as t-shirts, caps, shoes, and flip flops. Some candy is allowed, if it is hard and individually wrapped. Then all that's left to do is enclose $7.00 to cover the cost of shipping.
It's the 'ordinary things' in this country that are treasures in many countries in the world. During a box distribution in Lebu, Chile a little girl named Caroline received a shoe box. Later that evening, distribution team leaders were invited to go visit this family whose life had been affected by the earthquake and tsunami of 2010. With school starting the following week, the family had bought the necessary school supplies, but they couldn't afford to buy Caroline a pair of shoes, which she really needed. In her shoe box gift she had received a pair of black shoes that fit her perfectly.
"We saw her later that week at the market and she couldn't stop smiling," Bev Alexander said about Caroline, who, along with her parents, was thrilled because she was able to go to school.
Another lady on the distribution team had the honour of bestowing a little girl with the shoe box that she herself had packed. The girl checked everything in the box and when she came to the pencils, her cousin said, "Now that she has some pencils she can go to school."
Bev Alexander took the shoe boxes packed by two Weyburn schools with her to Lebu. Valentina from Canete received the box packed by Cheryl Ehman's Grade 5 class at St. Dominic Savio. Krishna from Curanilahue received the box that was packed by the students at Weyburn Junior High. Both schools enclosed a picture and a letter for the box recipient. Upon Bev's return to Weyburn, the students received a thank you letter and picture from Valentina and Krishna.
"I have been blessed to receive two letters and pictures, one from a boy in Costa Rica and the second from a boy in Guatamala," said Bev. A great way to receive a thank you from the child who received a shoe box is to put the sender's name and to include photos in the box. "Even if you don't include your address, the children treasure the picture of the person who cared enough to pack the box. One child, when she saw the picture, said, 'My new best friend.'"
At each distribution, the boys and girls are offered a booklet, "The Greatest Gift". This tells the story of Jesus' birth, death, and resurrection. The children are not obligated to take the booklet in order to receive a shoe box gift.
"There were never any booklets left behind! In fact, a few times the children returned looking for the booklet they had forgotten," said Bev Alexander.
Operation Christmas Child kicks-off in Weyburn on October 11 from 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the Weyburn Free Methodist Church, the local collection center located at corner of 14th Street and Coteau Avenue. This will be an opportunity for schools, churches, organizations, businesses and individuals to pick up their boxes and brochures, to share ideas about the shoe boxes and to have any questions answered. Bev Alexander will be giving a report from her distribution trip to Chile this year. There will also be boxes and brochures available at several business locations around Weyburn and area by mid-October.
Let's make this a year that many more children around the world will have something to smile about.
