Boxes Filled With Love

Volunteering during the holidays brings joy to my heart. So…when a friend asked me to join her in going to Charlotte, I thought why not!

“What are we going to be doing?”

“ We are going to process the shoeboxes at Operation Christmas Child.”

Oh goodie! I’ve never done that before. This should be exciting.

And it was…..!

We came through the door and oh what a sight! The huge warehouse was filled with hundreds of volunteers busy at their workstations. The goal for 2014 had been 10 million boxes and we were there on the last shift on the last day to finish it up. What love and excitement filled the air.

The supervising volunteers gathered a group of us into a boxed off room to show us a video of what we would be doing and how to do it. I kept thinking Lord; just give me a job I can do well. None of it was hard but just overwhelming at first. Then we were shuffled all the way to the last workstation #30.

“All right, who can do what?” the tall blonde lady said.

When she came to box inspector, my hand flew up without a thought.

We must have gone through 300-500 boxes. At first I was slow and careful but soon (mainly when I relaxed) the skills began to flow. We were checking for items that can’t be sent like money, chocolate, anything camouflage/military looking (a Si Robertson doll had to be discarded) because the child could be harmed. There were boxes that were well thought out and others not so much. Some were bursting at the seams and others had to have items added. Why? Because Samaritan’s Purse believes every child deserves to receive a full box.

Out of all the boxes I examined, there is one that remains. Inside, were a used hair bush, two worn shirts, and a pair of well-worn flip flops. At first, I thought who would do such a thing.

Then the Lord spoke to my heart and said,

"Jesus Love us even when we mess up.
Put your hand on min."

“She gave the best she had.”

I fought tears from running down my face. Oh, how quick I was to judge. So then I apologized to the Lord and prayed this sweet giver would be bless for her faithful giving. (widow’s mite) Although, we can’t send used items, the original box was repacked, prayed over, and sent along its way.

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Operation Christmas Child is not just a few days in December. There are people volunteering all year around because filling, inspecting, and mailing the boxes is only a part of the total scope. Teams of people come together around the country to serve in the specific areas of prayer, church relations, community relations, and media relations.

And if a child receives a box…then they can participate in a discipleship program.

More than 2.8 million children from 150 countries have participated in The Greatest Journey, the 12-lesson discipleship program created by Samaritan’s Purse. The Greatest Journey is one of the largest discipleship programs in the world, implemented through a global church network to help children know and follow Jesus Christ.

So each child not only gets a gift, but an invitation to eternity.


I pray heart-filled blessings on each child 
who is to receive a box and may each one see and 
fulfill their God-given destinies. 

If you have done it unto the least of these,

you have done it unto me....Jesus 
(Matthew 25:40)

Put you hand in mine and
we can pray together.

Become a part of something greater then yourself this season or even in the coming year. You may think it will be too small to matter but it’s not. God can/will multiply the limited results you see. And…what you don’t see, may have eternal value for someone you may never meet. So…Cast those vain imaginations down and see what you can discover to do in your area. The receiver will be eternally grateful.