Transforming Children’s Lives

Oper­a­tion Christ­mas Child (OCC) is a unique pro­ject of Samaritan’s Purse that brings joy and hope to chil­dren in des­per­ate situ­ations around the world through gift-​​fi lled shoe boxes. It provides an oppor­tun­ity for people of all ages to be involved in a simple but hands-​​on pro­ject that has the power to trans­form children’s lives.

In 2008, teams in Aus­tralia and New Zea­l­and col­lec­ted over 300,000 gift-​​fi lled shoe boxes that were delivered to South East Asia and the South Pacific. Glob­ally, Samaritan’s Purse dis­trib­uted an estim­ated 7.6 mil­lion shoe boxes to chil­dren in 105 coun­tries. As each shoe box gift is delivered, it is treas­ured by the child that receives it, and is a last­ing reminder that he or she is pre­cious to God.

KBC fam­il­ies have been gen­er­ous sup­port­ers of the shoe box appeal for many years now and the num­ber of boxes col­lec­ted has con­tin­ued to grow. Christ­mas may seem some time away yet, but now is the time to start col­lect­ing for this year’s pro­ject. If you have never done it before, why not make a start this year. It is so easy and a lot of fun — espe­cially know­ing that you are bring­ing joy to chil­dren around the world. Here are some gift ideas to help you along. Fill your shoe box with one or more items from each ‘something’:

• Some­thing to Love — Teddy bear, doll, soft toy, etc.
• Some­thing for School — Exer­cise book, pen­cil case, pens, pen­cils, col­our­ing pen­cils, sharpener, eraser, chalk, etc.
• Some­thing to Wear — T-​​shirt, shorts, under­wear, cap, beanie, san­dals, thongs, etc.
• Some­thing to Play With — Ten­nis ball, cars, skip­ping rope, marbles, musical instru­ment, yo-​​yo, slinky, fi nger pup­pets, wind up torch, etc. (no bat­tery oper­ated items)*
• Some­thing for Per­sonal Hygiene — Soap and face washer, tooth­brush, hair­brush, comb, hair-​​clips, scrunchies, etc. (No toothpaste)*
• Some­thing Special* — Carry bag, sunglasses, bangles, neck­laces, craft kits, stick­ers, note or photo of yourself.

This is a pro­ject that any­one can get involved in and if you can’t put together a shoe box your­self we can still find a job for you to do. You can provide fin­ance to help cover the cost of send­ing the boxes over­seas — each box costs about $8.00 (it’s sort of like adopt­ing a box!). You can also help out at the Yer­onga ware­house where teams of people sort through the boxes and make sure everything is okay before they are sent off. A team from KBC did this last year and had a ball together. Fly­ers are now avail­able from the foyer or Church Office. Join in the fun and help trans­form a child’s life this Christmas.