Operation Christmas Child

 

    Every year, Samaritan's Purse collects millions of Operation Christmas Child (OCC) shoebox gifts. Now these gifts are a way to get the gospel to children all over the world. These boxes cross oceans, borders, and rivers to bring joy and hope to a child. They are shipped all over the world to children affected by war, poverty, disease, famine, and so many other disasters. People all over the United States pack these boxes and then drop them off at designated locations in November. Of course, these have to be officially packed, inspected, sealed, and of course shipped. Today, I served with other volunteers and friends in a OCC processing center. 

    We rolled up at 9 am with masks on our faces so we could start working.  My brothers and I have served with OCC before so we were very excited to begin. It looked a little different this year (because COVID). Instead of the normal fourteen stations, there were forty- eight. Our little group of four was led over to station 46 where we started. 

    When we began, we slowly started to fall into rhythm with our inspecting, repacking, taping, scanning, and boxing. Items that were not allowed (like toothpaste and a LOT of candy) were removed, some items were added, the shoeboxes are taped shut, and then placed in a box that gets shipped off. We packed box after box and did not stop until our shift was over. There is a great atmosphere while working and little moments are had to pray over the boxes. Over just one morning, volunteers had processed over a seventh of all the boxes that location would do THIS SEASON. We filled an entire semi truck trailer full of boxes before 10. 

    I had SO much fun and CANNOT wait to do it again. We had a small group this time, but you can bet I want to get a bigger group next time. This is an easy service project to organize and pretty quick moving. If you want to volunteer, you can find more information here. I was the only adult going, so I had to keep the group to a limit of four minors. It was a lot of fun to chaperone (even though the group called me "the shortest chaperone ever" 😂). 

This post was much shorter than normal, but hey, the chaos of December is practically here. I may end up posting much more haphazardly, and likely less often. If I can post (or if I have a post ready), I will. 

Until next time,

KS

-what are some things you're doing this holiday season

- any post suggestions for me?