It’s NOVEMBER!!! Yay!!! Do you know what that means? One more month until CHRISTMAS!!! (Ok one month and 25 days but who’s counting?)
Source: google.co.uk via Katie on Pinterest
Yep, we love Christmas around these parts of the interweb. Like love love. One reason we love love Christmas is because Katie and I both love to give gifts. We like to think we are good gift givers. (We are known to agonize when we are picking out gifts.)
As kids our family used to take part in Samaritan’s Purse Operation Christmas Child and fill a shoebox full of toys to send to a child who’s family didn’t have enough money to buy presents. As adults we love to continue the tradition. And since Samaritan’s Purse National Collection Week is coming up we thought we’d share this with you now!
Source: www.samaritanspurse.org
When I was on the World Race we went to a country called Montenegro. There are 700,000 people in Montenegro with only 120-150 Christians. The major religions are Muslim and Orthodox.
Montenegro is one of the countries that receives shoe boxes from Samaritan’s Purse at Christmas time. You could imagine my shock and awe when I saw a garage full of Operation Christmas Child boxes! Maybe this is why Montenegro is one of my most favorite countries? 
About 2,000 boxes are sent to Montenegro which are spread out between 3 churches around the country. There are some children who live there who have never received a Christmas present before.
Source: samaritanspurse.org via Kelly on Pinterest
When I spoke with the volunteers who distributed the shoe boxes they told me how amazing it is to have the opportunity to be involved in this program. They told me you can clearly see the joy in the faces of the children. When the kids and parents ask the church members who sent the gifts, they are able to share with them that God sent them through people who love Him.
I don’t know about you, but this is something I would love to do this Christmastime. Be apart of God’s plan and send a shoebox or two to another country so someone can share the gospel with them.
We found this awesome blog that is full of good ideas of what to include in your shoebox.
Source: faithfulprovisions.com via Katie on Pinterest
And here is a the simple step by step instructions on how to do it.
Use an empty shoe box (standard size, please) or a small plastic container. You can wrap the box (lid separately), but wrapping is not required. Most importantly, pray for the child who will receive your gift.
Determine whether your gift will be for a boy or a girl, and the child’s age category: 2-4, 5-9, or 10-14. Print out the appropriate boy/girl label by downloading the artwork to the right. Mark the correct age category on the label, and tape the label to the top of your box.
Fill the box with a variety of gifts that will bring delight to a child. Use the gift ideas provided on the bottom of this page.
Please donate $7 or more for each shoe box you prepare to help cover shipping and other project costs. You can give online by using our “Follow Your Box Donation” option, or you can write a check to Samaritan’s Purse (note “OCC” on memo line) and place it in an envelope on top of the gift items inside your box. If you or your family are preparing more than one shoe box, please make one combined donation.
Place a rubber band around each closed shoe box and drop it off at the collection center nearest you during our collection week, November 12-19, 2012.
For locations and hours of collection visit their Drop-Off Locations page where you can find the nearest place to take your shoe box by entering your ZIP Code or you can call 1-800-353-5949.
And that’s it! Show God’s love and make a child smile this Christmas. Join us in Operation Christmas Child.
