Operation Christmas Child aims to bring Christmas gifts to children across the world. The program, an outreach project of the nondenominational evangelical organization known as Samaritan’s Purse, is part of a larger project with partners with other local churches during this time of year.
In Poplar Bluff, Carol Morgan, a local project leader of the project, has successfully organized a toy collection drive for the past 10 years.
The concept is easy in design, said Morgan.
“You take a shoe box, and you decide on the age group, boy or girl. And then you fill it up with toys or even hygiene items. And then school supplies — school supplies are the most important — because if they don’t have school supplies then they can’t go to school,” she said.
Shoe boxes are filled with various items such as notebooks, coloring books, crayons, markers, pens, pencils, socks, underwear, and even special gifts such as soccer balls, fishing kits, sewing supplies, and jump ropes.
From Nov. 13-20, the project hosts a collection week where other churches bring their shoe boxes to Temple Baptist Church and a team of volunteers puts them into cartons.
“The goal is to get the gospel to people all over the world,” Morgan said. “Each box has the potential to reach 10 people for Christ.”
From there, the cartons are loaded onto tractor trailers and are delivered to a Colorado processing center.
Morgan said last year, the nonprofit delivered more 9.2 million boxes internationally.
“Locally, we do about 3,000 boxes,” she said. “There are different stations all across Missouri.”
For Temple Baptist member and volunteer Judy Russell, the spirit of giving inspires her to be a part of the packing. As she rolled up soccer balls to put into children’s boxes, she explained that she helps wherever she feels there is a need.
Russell said both she and her husband have been volunteering for the project for years.
“My husband and I come to volunteer once the other churches bring their boxes,” she said. “All these boxes have to be packed in these larger cardboard crates within these sealed shipping containers.”
Russell added the love of Christ motivates her to come back and help every single year.
“I am a retired teacher so I am used to helping with kids,” she said. “We have kids of our own but I also think about kids in other places who don’t have much and how God has blessed us with what we have.”
Russell feels she has a responsibility to pass on God’s blessings to other people.
“There’s always a way to help,” she said. “I don’t just mean with volunteering, but through prayer or even donating money because that money can be used to help pay for the shipping of the boxes or to buy the actual items that we have here. There’s something for everybody to do, whether they are physically here or not.”
Another volunteer, 101-year-old Lillian Painton, assists with Operation Christmas Child “because I love to help people.”
Painton said just by participating in the packing of boxes, a pathway is created for the Lord.
“This is an opportunity to share the Lord Jesus Christ with everyone,” she said. “It’s a great ministry, we are trying to reach people for the Lord Jesus Christ.”
For more information about donating, please contact Temple Baptist Church at 573-785-1250. Further information about Samaritan’s Purse is available at samaritanspurse.org.
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