Operation Christmas Child

The last words Jesus spoke on earth before He ascended into heaven were: “…tell people about me everywhere, in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth”. Acts 1:8 NLT

The shoe boxes that you packed and sent through Operation Christmas Child are being successfully deployed to accomplish this command. This past November, the people of Columbus Street Baptist Church provided 235 gift filled shoe boxes to Samaritans Purse. After collection at church, the shoe box gifts made their way from Bakersfield to Orange County, CA for processing. Your shoe boxes are there now waiting to be processed at the Processing Center, where they will be inspected for items that can’t easily be shipped, such as glass, liquids, chocolate, and war related toys. After inspection and removal of any inappropriate items, the individual shoe boxes will be sorted by age and gender and packed into cardboard cartons and placed into shipping containers. Once the containers are sealed, they will be sent to the port of Long Beach and loaded onto ships destined to the following countries: Mongolia, China, Nepal, Bangladesh, Indonesia, the Philippines and Peru. Some of these may take a month or more to reach their final destination.

The final numbers of shoeboxes collected in Kern County or the total for the United States is not yet compiled. However, it appears that the total number for the U.S. will be nearly 5.5 million. Keep in mind that each shoe box gift becomes a “Gospel Opportunity” which is why every shoebox is so important.

You may also be encouraged to know that through the gifts collected in all 11 OCC sending countries, a total of more than 8.5 million hurting children will receive a gift, have the opportunity to hear the Gospel, and connect with a local church for on-going follow up and discipleship. In total, 109 counties will receive shoe box gifts.

Thank you for your generosity and thinking of other before yourselves – you are great missionaries. If you have questions or comments please contact Dalton or Lisa Lockman. 392-7784

     The Power of a Simple Gift