My favorite project all year long is Samaritan's Purse's (Franklin Graham's ministry) Operation Christmas Child!!! I seriously think and plan for it literally all year long!
This picture captures the essence of what OCC is all about! These precious kiddos living in absolute squalor, who have never received a gift in their entire lives... are getting their very first gift! The fact that they have never received a gift makes these boxes full of what we perceive as dollar store junk, true treasures not only to the kids, but to their families as well! They are so amazed at getting not only one gift, but a box full of gifts, they often ask, "Who has sent this to me???" They are puzzled that complete strangers would give them, a seemingly "no body", their first and maybe only gift of their entire childhood! This confusion is the perfect opportunity the volunteers of OCC use to share with them the love of Christ. They also include a book in their language about the life of Christ.
The many accounts of new faith in Christ that come from this ministry are amazing, heart warming, goose-bumpy accounts of how a loving God reaches down to touch these very children and their families! One I just heard about this year is the story of Lejla Allison from Bosnia. I won't ruin it for you (although I will issue a tissue warning!), but go watch the video for yourself at:
http://static.samaritanspurse.org/broadcast/OCC_video/LejlaAllison.mov
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