I AM SO EXCITED!!!
we are doing something so small but it could change LIVES. our church is also joining us.
will you??
around here, we have a 4 day weekend ahead...i have something to keep you busy with your kids AND bless others at the same time!!!
many of you have heard of
operation christmas child. if so, comment on this post and let others know how easy it is and how much it's blessed you or your family!
if not, here's the basic idea:
you pack a shoebox sized box (i have a bunch if you need one!) with a variety of items that a child would love and appreciate. the boxes are then sent all over the WORLD to children and they are made to feel LOVED...some of them for the first (and only?) time in their lives.
what do you put in it? everything from toothpaste/toothbrush to underwear/socks to stickers/small stuffed animal. these kids will react to underwear like YOUR kids would react to a new videogame! having a few pencils given to them might mean they can go to SCHOOL. having new socks might mean they can WALK and not get sores/infections in their feet. YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!!
here's a list of what to pack (and what not to!)
i happened to be listening to the radio this morning and they were interviewing a girl (that is now a woman that was adopted when she was a girl living in russia) that had received an OCC shoebox when she was an orphan. she remembered EVERY item that had been in her box. i could hardly drive for the tears in my eyes...
you can bring your filled shoeboxes
(make sure you read all the directions! don't forget the $7!) to our house ANYTIME between now and november 11. email me for my address if you need it (courtneycassada at gmail dot com) we will get them to where they need to go. if you go to Reston Bible Church, you can bring them this Sunday and next Sunday. if you don't live near here, go to Operation Christmas Child's page and find a
dropoff location near you!
we packed 6 boxes the other weekend to bring in to show all the sunday school classes. it was so fun to do with our kids. so cool to listen to what THEY thought should go in the boxes. some of you have asked me HOW to get your kids involved in GIVING to others..this is a GREAT way!
one of our boxes...can you tell this is the one bailey packed?? :-)
go change someone's world!! and share this with anyone you'd like!
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8 comments:
Thanks for the encouragement to do this Courtney! I think Finley will really like putting together a box this year.
We have done this the past couple of years, either through church or through Chik Fil A. It's fun and easy to pack a box. We even say a pray over each box that the receiver is blessed and knows the love with which it was packed.
We started doing this when our oldest was 2, we let him pick the things out (with boundaries) and told him about kids who don't have toys and toothbrushes. He is now 5 and has asked about doing the box every year. What a blessing for our kids to learn and give and for the orphans.
We started filling a big tub after Christmas each year. I find great deals on things all throughout the year and the kids go put it in the "blessing box." Then we try to see how many boxes we can pack each fall. This year we packed 10 boxes. We have a "shoe box" packing party every year and make this the first event of the Christmas season. We listen to Christmas music for the first time and pop popcorn and decorate our boxes. My favorite thing is listening to my kids discuss what should go in each box.."Oh this box if for a girl, put the headbands in there." "This box if for the two year old, make sure he gets a couple cars."
Seriously love this project!
we love this and it is easy to do. our church is also coordinating a collection this year. we always like to opt for the tracking so we can see where our boxes ended up and then learn about where they went
My husband and I live in Nairobi, Kenya and we will be helping to load the Operation Christmas Child boxes on to the airplane in Kenya to take them to children in Juba, South Sudan this year. Thanks for encouraging people to be a part of this project!
I think the kids and I can definitely put a few together. I am going to round up some shoe boxes tonight.
Thanks for your blog on Operation Christmas Child. When we lived in Bolivia, our family helped with the OCC by unloading the containers into the hanger, then we loaded them up in our pickup truck to take to the different locations. It was a blessing to those that received them, plus a blessing for our family to help out on the Recieving end.~J
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