This time of year there are so many fun outdoor toys around to put in your shoebox. What a blessing they can be to the child who receives them.
They can range from the high end, deflated soccer ball and small hand pump, which would be blessing to a large group of children, to a small bouncy ball. Jump ropes and beach balls all are so fun! Something simple like an active toy allows for a LOT of fun for a long time.
Need something inexpensive? Dollar stores like Dollar Tree have nerf style balls and jump ropes for a dollar. OR keep an eye out for end of summer clearance. Last year I bought a bunch of jump ropes for 25 cents each!
Want to see the ripple effect that can happen through a single shoebox????
Here is a story from Samaritan's Purse:
The power of a simple gift
April 5, 2013
With young Bismarck’s box came two gifts that helped change his life: a soccer ball, and news that Jesus Christ loves him.
By Carla Bregani, Senior Communications Advisor
It’s hot and stuffy inside the cinder-block, one-room church. More
than one hundred children sit in rows on the cement floor, organized by
age and gender. Parents crowd around barred windows and doors.
The noise is loud – and probably seems louder to me because it’s all
in Spanish – parents calling to their children, older kids teasing one
another as they sit impatiently, a few younger ones crying anxious
tears.
Pastor Bismarck turns on a microphone and begins to speak in Spanish.
He welcomes the children to this small church in a barrio a few hours’
drive from Managua, Nicaragua. It was only 15 years ago that he was
sitting on a church floor just like these children, waiting to receive
the first gift he had ever received – an Operation Christmas Child shoe
box.
With young Bismarck’s box came two gifts that helped change his life:
a soccer ball, and news that Jesus Christ loves him. “Before that gift,
I didn’t know what a gift was,” says Bismarck. “The gifts helped us
understand that we were special to the heart of God and that people in
Canada cared for us.”
Accepting Christ’s sacrifice and love for him, Bismarck set out on a
journey to tell other children the same exciting news. He organized a
soccer ministry using the soccer ball from his shoe box gift, and shared
God’s love with street kids as they played the game together. He has
now planted and pastored five churches; that single shoe box gift served
as a catalyst that changed the course of his life.
In the stuffy, hot barrio church, Pastor Bismarck is finishing his
short message, telling the children inside and parents still crowded
around the windows and doors that Jesus loves them and He wants to be
their Friend. Then the gift-filled shoe boxes are given out, row by row
and child by child.
On the count of “uno, dos, tres!” the volume soars as the children
excitedly discover gifts of hats, dolls, trucks, pencils, paper, candy,
and much more. Shouts of joy, surprise, and “gracias!” fill the room.
Pastor Bismarck stands back to watch the commotion. He has no doubt
that Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes are God-given opportunities to
share God’s love with children and families. “A shoe box can move the
heart of a child,” he says. “But not just the heart of a child or one
family. It can change the whole community. And yes, I consider it a
miracle.”
- See more at:
http://www.samaritanspurse.ca/blog/operation-christmas-child/the-power-of-a-simple-gift.aspx#sthash.87pFWJu8.dpuf
The power of a simple gift
April 5, 2013
With young Bismarck’s box came two gifts that helped change his life: a soccer ball, and news that Jesus Christ loves him.
By Carla Bregani, Senior Communications Advisor
It’s hot and stuffy inside the cinder-block, one-room church. More
than one hundred children sit in rows on the cement floor, organized by
age and gender. Parents crowd around barred windows and doors.
The noise is loud – and probably seems louder to me because it’s all
in Spanish – parents calling to their children, older kids teasing one
another as they sit impatiently, a few younger ones crying anxious
tears.
Pastor Bismarck turns on a microphone and begins to speak in Spanish.
He welcomes the children to this small church in a barrio a few hours’
drive from Managua, Nicaragua. It was only 15 years ago that he was
sitting on a church floor just like these children, waiting to receive
the first gift he had ever received – an Operation Christmas Child shoe
box.
With young Bismarck’s box came two gifts that helped change his life:
a soccer ball, and news that Jesus Christ loves him. “Before that gift,
I didn’t know what a gift was,” says Bismarck. “The gifts helped us
understand that we were special to the heart of God and that people in
Canada cared for us.”
Accepting Christ’s sacrifice and love for him, Bismarck set out on a
journey to tell other children the same exciting news. He organized a
soccer ministry using the soccer ball from his shoe box gift, and shared
God’s love with street kids as they played the game together. He has
now planted and pastored five churches; that single shoe box gift served
as a catalyst that changed the course of his life.
In the stuffy, hot barrio church, Pastor Bismarck is finishing his
short message, telling the children inside and parents still crowded
around the windows and doors that Jesus loves them and He wants to be
their Friend. Then the gift-filled shoe boxes are given out, row by row
and child by child.
On the count of “uno, dos, tres!” the volume soars as the children
excitedly discover gifts of hats, dolls, trucks, pencils, paper, candy,
and much more. Shouts of joy, surprise, and “gracias!” fill the room.
Pastor Bismarck stands back to watch the commotion. He has no doubt
that Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes are God-given opportunities to
share God’s love with children and families. “A shoe box can move the
heart of a child,” he says. “But not just the heart of a child or one
family. It can change the whole community. And yes, I consider it a
miracle.”
- See more at:
http://www.samaritanspurse.ca/blog/operation-christmas-child/the-power-of-a-simple-gift.aspx#sthash.87pFWJu8.dpuf
The power of a simple gift
April 5, 2013
With young Bismarck’s box came two gifts that helped change his life: a soccer ball, and news that Jesus Christ loves him.
By Carla Bregani, Senior Communications Advisor
It’s hot and stuffy inside the cinder-block, one-room church. More
than one hundred children sit in rows on the cement floor, organized by
age and gender. Parents crowd around barred windows and doors.
The noise is loud – and probably seems louder to me because it’s all
in Spanish – parents calling to their children, older kids teasing one
another as they sit impatiently, a few younger ones crying anxious
tears.
Pastor Bismarck turns on a microphone and begins to speak in Spanish.
He welcomes the children to this small church in a barrio a few hours’
drive from Managua, Nicaragua. It was only 15 years ago that he was
sitting on a church floor just like these children, waiting to receive
the first gift he had ever received – an Operation Christmas Child shoe
box.
With young Bismarck’s box came two gifts that helped change his life:
a soccer ball, and news that Jesus Christ loves him. “Before that gift,
I didn’t know what a gift was,” says Bismarck. “The gifts helped us
understand that we were special to the heart of God and that people in
Canada cared for us.”
Accepting Christ’s sacrifice and love for him, Bismarck set out on a
journey to tell other children the same exciting news. He organized a
soccer ministry using the soccer ball from his shoe box gift, and shared
God’s love with street kids as they played the game together. He has
now planted and pastored five churches; that single shoe box gift served
as a catalyst that changed the course of his life.
In the stuffy, hot barrio church, Pastor Bismarck is finishing his
short message, telling the children inside and parents still crowded
around the windows and doors that Jesus loves them and He wants to be
their Friend. Then the gift-filled shoe boxes are given out, row by row
and child by child.
On the count of “uno, dos, tres!” the volume soars as the children
excitedly discover gifts of hats, dolls, trucks, pencils, paper, candy,
and much more. Shouts of joy, surprise, and “gracias!” fill the room.
Pastor Bismarck stands back to watch the commotion. He has no doubt
that Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes are God-given opportunities to
share God’s love with children and families. “A shoe box can move the
heart of a child,” he says. “But not just the heart of a child or one
family. It can change the whole community. And yes, I consider it a
miracle.”
- See more at:
http://www.samaritanspurse.ca/blog/operation-christmas-child/the-power-of-a-simple-gift.aspx#sthash.87pFWJu8.dpuf
The power of a simple gift
April 5, 2013
With
young Bismarck’s box came two gifts that helped change his life: a soccer ball,
and news that Jesus Christ loves him.
By Carla Bregani, Senior
Communications Advisor
It’s hot and stuffy inside the
cinder-block, one-room church. More than one hundred children sit in rows on
the cement floor, organized by age and gender. Parents crowd around barred
windows and doors.
The noise is loud – and probably
seems louder to me because it’s all in Spanish – parents calling to their
children, older kids teasing one another as they sit impatiently, a few younger
ones crying anxious tears.
Pastor Bismarck turns on a
microphone and begins to speak in Spanish. He welcomes the children to this
small church in a barrio a few hours’ drive from Managua, Nicaragua. It was
only 15 years ago that he was sitting on a church floor just like these
children, waiting to receive the first gift he had ever received – an Operation
Christmas Child shoe box.
With young Bismarck’s box came two
gifts that helped change his life: a soccer ball, and news that Jesus Christ
loves him. “Before that gift, I didn’t know what a gift was,” says Bismarck.
“The gifts helped us understand that we were special to the heart of God and
that people in Canada cared for us.”
Accepting Christ’s sacrifice and
love for him, Bismarck set out on a journey to tell other children the same
exciting news. He organized a soccer ministry using the soccer ball from his
shoe box gift, and shared God’s love with street kids as they played the game
together. He has now planted and pastored five churches; that single shoe
box gift served as a catalyst that changed the course of his life.
In the stuffy, hot barrio church,
Pastor Bismarck is finishing his short message, telling the children inside and
parents still crowded around the windows and doors that Jesus loves them and He
wants to be their Friend. Then the gift-filled shoe boxes are given out, row by
row and child by child.
On the count of “uno, dos, tres!”
the volume soars as the children excitedly discover gifts of hats, dolls,
trucks, pencils, paper, candy, and much more. Shouts of joy, surprise, and
“gracias!” fill the room.
Pastor Bismarck stands back to watch
the commotion. He has no doubt that Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes are
God-given opportunities to share God’s love with children and families. “A shoe
box can move the heart of a child,” he says. “But not just the heart of a child
or one family. It can change the whole community. And yes, I consider it a
miracle.”
The power of a simple gift
April 5, 2013
With young Bismarck’s box came two gifts that helped change his life: a soccer ball, and news that Jesus Christ loves him.
By Carla Bregani, Senior Communications Advisor
It’s hot and stuffy inside the cinder-block, one-room church. More
than one hundred children sit in rows on the cement floor, organized by
age and gender. Parents crowd around barred windows and doors.
The noise is loud – and probably seems louder to me because it’s all
in Spanish – parents calling to their children, older kids teasing one
another as they sit impatiently, a few younger ones crying anxious
tears.
Pastor Bismarck turns on a microphone and begins to speak in Spanish.
He welcomes the children to this small church in a barrio a few hours’
drive from Managua, Nicaragua. It was only 15 years ago that he was
sitting on a church floor just like these children, waiting to receive
the first gift he had ever received – an Operation Christmas Child shoe
box.
With young Bismarck’s box came two gifts that helped change his life:
a soccer ball, and news that Jesus Christ loves him. “Before that gift,
I didn’t know what a gift was,” says Bismarck. “The gifts helped us
understand that we were special to the heart of God and that people in
Canada cared for us.”
Accepting Christ’s sacrifice and love for him, Bismarck set out on a
journey to tell other children the same exciting news. He organized a
soccer ministry using the soccer ball from his shoe box gift, and shared
God’s love with street kids as they played the game together. He has
now planted and pastored five churches; that single shoe box gift served
as a catalyst that changed the course of his life.
In the stuffy, hot barrio church, Pastor Bismarck is finishing his
short message, telling the children inside and parents still crowded
around the windows and doors that Jesus loves them and He wants to be
their Friend. Then the gift-filled shoe boxes are given out, row by row
and child by child.
On the count of “uno, dos, tres!” the volume soars as the children
excitedly discover gifts of hats, dolls, trucks, pencils, paper, candy,
and much more. Shouts of joy, surprise, and “gracias!” fill the room.
Pastor Bismarck stands back to watch the commotion. He has no doubt
that Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes are God-given opportunities to
share God’s love with children and families. “A shoe box can move the
heart of a child,” he says. “But not just the heart of a child or one
family. It can change the whole community. And yes, I consider it a
miracle.”
- See more at:
http://www.samaritanspurse.ca/blog/operation-christmas-child/the-power-of-a-simple-gift.aspx#sthash.87pFWJu8.dpuf
The power of a simple gift
April 5, 2013
With young Bismarck’s box came two gifts that helped change his life: a soccer ball, and news that Jesus Christ loves him.
By Carla Bregani, Senior Communications Advisor
It’s hot and stuffy inside the cinder-block, one-room church. More
than one hundred children sit in rows on the cement floor, organized by
age and gender. Parents crowd around barred windows and doors.
The noise is loud – and probably seems louder to me because it’s all
in Spanish – parents calling to their children, older kids teasing one
another as they sit impatiently, a few younger ones crying anxious
tears.
Pastor Bismarck turns on a microphone and begins to speak in Spanish.
He welcomes the children to this small church in a barrio a few hours’
drive from Managua, Nicaragua. It was only 15 years ago that he was
sitting on a church floor just like these children, waiting to receive
the first gift he had ever received – an Operation Christmas Child shoe
box.
With young Bismarck’s box came two gifts that helped change his life:
a soccer ball, and news that Jesus Christ loves him. “Before that gift,
I didn’t know what a gift was,” says Bismarck. “The gifts helped us
understand that we were special to the heart of God and that people in
Canada cared for us.”
Accepting Christ’s sacrifice and love for him, Bismarck set out on a
journey to tell other children the same exciting news. He organized a
soccer ministry using the soccer ball from his shoe box gift, and shared
God’s love with street kids as they played the game together. He has
now planted and pastored five churches; that single shoe box gift served
as a catalyst that changed the course of his life.
In the stuffy, hot barrio church, Pastor Bismarck is finishing his
short message, telling the children inside and parents still crowded
around the windows and doors that Jesus loves them and He wants to be
their Friend. Then the gift-filled shoe boxes are given out, row by row
and child by child.
On the count of “uno, dos, tres!” the volume soars as the children
excitedly discover gifts of hats, dolls, trucks, pencils, paper, candy,
and much more. Shouts of joy, surprise, and “gracias!” fill the room.
Pastor Bismarck stands back to watch the commotion. He has no doubt
that Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes are God-given opportunities to
share God’s love with children and families. “A shoe box can move the
heart of a child,” he says. “But not just the heart of a child or one
family. It can change the whole community. And yes, I consider it a
miracle.”
- See more at:
http://www.samaritanspurse.ca/blog/operation-christmas-child/the-power-of-a-simple-gift.aspx#sthash.87pFWJu8.dpuf
The power of a simple gift
April 5, 2013
With young Bismarck’s box came two gifts that helped change his life: a soccer ball, and news that Jesus Christ loves him.
By Carla Bregani, Senior Communications Advisor
It’s hot and stuffy inside the cinder-block, one-room church. More
than one hundred children sit in rows on the cement floor, organized by
age and gender. Parents crowd around barred windows and doors.
The noise is loud – and probably seems louder to me because it’s all
in Spanish – parents calling to their children, older kids teasing one
another as they sit impatiently, a few younger ones crying anxious
tears.
Pastor Bismarck turns on a microphone and begins to speak in Spanish.
He welcomes the children to this small church in a barrio a few hours’
drive from Managua, Nicaragua. It was only 15 years ago that he was
sitting on a church floor just like these children, waiting to receive
the first gift he had ever received – an Operation Christmas Child shoe
box.
With young Bismarck’s box came two gifts that helped change his life:
a soccer ball, and news that Jesus Christ loves him. “Before that gift,
I didn’t know what a gift was,” says Bismarck. “The gifts helped us
understand that we were special to the heart of God and that people in
Canada cared for us.”
Accepting Christ’s sacrifice and love for him, Bismarck set out on a
journey to tell other children the same exciting news. He organized a
soccer ministry using the soccer ball from his shoe box gift, and shared
God’s love with street kids as they played the game together. He has
now planted and pastored five churches; that single shoe box gift served
as a catalyst that changed the course of his life.
In the stuffy, hot barrio church, Pastor Bismarck is finishing his
short message, telling the children inside and parents still crowded
around the windows and doors that Jesus loves them and He wants to be
their Friend. Then the gift-filled shoe boxes are given out, row by row
and child by child.
On the count of “uno, dos, tres!” the volume soars as the children
excitedly discover gifts of hats, dolls, trucks, pencils, paper, candy,
and much more. Shouts of joy, surprise, and “gracias!” fill the room.
Pastor Bismarck stands back to watch the commotion. He has no doubt
that Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes are God-given opportunities to
share God’s love with children and families. “A shoe box can move the
heart of a child,” he says. “But not just the heart of a child or one
family. It can change the whole community. And yes, I consider it a
miracle.”
- See more at:
http://www.samaritanspurse.ca/blog/operation-christmas-child/the-power-of-a-simple-gift.aspx#sthash.87pFWJu8.dpuf
The power of a simple gift
April 5, 2013
With young Bismarck’s box came two gifts that helped change his life: a soccer ball, and news that Jesus Christ loves him.
By Carla Bregani, Senior Communications Advisor
It’s hot and stuffy inside the cinder-block, one-room church. More
than one hundred children sit in rows on the cement floor, organized by
age and gender. Parents crowd around barred windows and doors.
The noise is loud – and probably seems louder to me because it’s all
in Spanish – parents calling to their children, older kids teasing one
another as they sit impatiently, a few younger ones crying anxious
tears.
Pastor Bismarck turns on a microphone and begins to speak in Spanish.
He welcomes the children to this small church in a barrio a few hours’
drive from Managua, Nicaragua. It was only 15 years ago that he was
sitting on a church floor just like these children, waiting to receive
the first gift he had ever received – an Operation Christmas Child shoe
box.
With young Bismarck’s box came two gifts that helped change his life:
a soccer ball, and news that Jesus Christ loves him. “Before that gift,
I didn’t know what a gift was,” says Bismarck. “The gifts helped us
understand that we were special to the heart of God and that people in
Canada cared for us.”
Accepting Christ’s sacrifice and love for him, Bismarck set out on a
journey to tell other children the same exciting news. He organized a
soccer ministry using the soccer ball from his shoe box gift, and shared
God’s love with street kids as they played the game together. He has
now planted and pastored five churches; that single shoe box gift served
as a catalyst that changed the course of his life.
In the stuffy, hot barrio church, Pastor Bismarck is finishing his
short message, telling the children inside and parents still crowded
around the windows and doors that Jesus loves them and He wants to be
their Friend. Then the gift-filled shoe boxes are given out, row by row
and child by child.
On the count of “uno, dos, tres!” the volume soars as the children
excitedly discover gifts of hats, dolls, trucks, pencils, paper, candy,
and much more. Shouts of joy, surprise, and “gracias!” fill the room.
Pastor Bismarck stands back to watch the commotion. He has no doubt
that Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes are God-given opportunities to
share God’s love with children and families. “A shoe box can move the
heart of a child,” he says. “But not just the heart of a child or one
family. It can change the whole community. And yes, I consider it a
miracle.”
- See more at:
http://www.samaritanspurse.ca/blog/operation-christmas-child/the-power-of-a-simple-gift.aspx#sthash.87pFWJu8.dpuf
The power of a simple gift
April 5, 2013
With young Bismarck’s box came two gifts that helped change his life: a soccer ball, and news that Jesus Christ loves him.
By Carla Bregani, Senior Communications Advisor
It’s hot and stuffy inside the cinder-block, one-room church. More
than one hundred children sit in rows on the cement floor, organized by
age and gender. Parents crowd around barred windows and doors.
The noise is loud – and probably seems louder to me because it’s all
in Spanish – parents calling to their children, older kids teasing one
another as they sit impatiently, a few younger ones crying anxious
tears.
Pastor Bismarck turns on a microphone and begins to speak in Spanish.
He welcomes the children to this small church in a barrio a few hours’
drive from Managua, Nicaragua. It was only 15 years ago that he was
sitting on a church floor just like these children, waiting to receive
the first gift he had ever received – an Operation Christmas Child shoe
box.
With young Bismarck’s box came two gifts that helped change his life:
a soccer ball, and news that Jesus Christ loves him. “Before that gift,
I didn’t know what a gift was,” says Bismarck. “The gifts helped us
understand that we were special to the heart of God and that people in
Canada cared for us.”
Accepting Christ’s sacrifice and love for him, Bismarck set out on a
journey to tell other children the same exciting news. He organized a
soccer ministry using the soccer ball from his shoe box gift, and shared
God’s love with street kids as they played the game together. He has
now planted and pastored five churches; that single shoe box gift served
as a catalyst that changed the course of his life.
In the stuffy, hot barrio church, Pastor Bismarck is finishing his
short message, telling the children inside and parents still crowded
around the windows and doors that Jesus loves them and He wants to be
their Friend. Then the gift-filled shoe boxes are given out, row by row
and child by child.
On the count of “uno, dos, tres!” the volume soars as the children
excitedly discover gifts of hats, dolls, trucks, pencils, paper, candy,
and much more. Shouts of joy, surprise, and “gracias!” fill the room.
Pastor Bismarck stands back to watch the commotion. He has no doubt
that Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes are God-given opportunities to
share God’s love with children and families. “A shoe box can move the
heart of a child,” he says. “But not just the heart of a child or one
family. It can change the whole community. And yes, I consider it a
miracle.”
- See more at:
http://www.samaritanspurse.ca/blog/operation-christmas-child/the-power-of-a-simple-gift.aspx#sthash.87pFWJu8.dpuf
The power of a simple gift
April 5, 2013
With young Bismarck’s box came two gifts that helped change his life: a soccer ball, and news that Jesus Christ loves him.
By Carla Bregani, Senior Communications Advisor
It’s hot and stuffy inside the cinder-block, one-room church. More
than one hundred children sit in rows on the cement floor, organized by
age and gender. Parents crowd around barred windows and doors.
The noise is loud – and probably seems louder to me because it’s all
in Spanish – parents calling to their children, older kids teasing one
another as they sit impatiently, a few younger ones crying anxious
tears.
Pastor Bismarck turns on a microphone and begins to speak in Spanish.
He welcomes the children to this small church in a barrio a few hours’
drive from Managua, Nicaragua. It was only 15 years ago that he was
sitting on a church floor just like these children, waiting to receive
the first gift he had ever received – an Operation Christmas Child shoe
box.
With young Bismarck’s box came two gifts that helped change his life:
a soccer ball, and news that Jesus Christ loves him. “Before that gift,
I didn’t know what a gift was,” says Bismarck. “The gifts helped us
understand that we were special to the heart of God and that people in
Canada cared for us.”
Accepting Christ’s sacrifice and love for him, Bismarck set out on a
journey to tell other children the same exciting news. He organized a
soccer ministry using the soccer ball from his shoe box gift, and shared
God’s love with street kids as they played the game together. He has
now planted and pastored five churches; that single shoe box gift served
as a catalyst that changed the course of his life.
In the stuffy, hot barrio church, Pastor Bismarck is finishing his
short message, telling the children inside and parents still crowded
around the windows and doors that Jesus loves them and He wants to be
their Friend. Then the gift-filled shoe boxes are given out, row by row
and child by child.
On the count of “uno, dos, tres!” the volume soars as the children
excitedly discover gifts of hats, dolls, trucks, pencils, paper, candy,
and much more. Shouts of joy, surprise, and “gracias!” fill the room.
Pastor Bismarck stands back to watch the commotion. He has no doubt
that Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes are God-given opportunities to
share God’s love with children and families. “A shoe box can move the
heart of a child,” he says. “But not just the heart of a child or one
family. It can change the whole community. And yes, I consider it a
miracle.”
- See more at:
http://www.samaritanspurse.ca/blog/operation-christmas-child/the-power-of-a-simple-gift.aspx#sthash.87pFWJu8.dpuf
The power of a simple gift
April 5, 2013
With young Bismarck’s box came two gifts that helped change his life: a soccer ball, and news that Jesus Christ loves him.
By Carla Bregani, Senior Communications Advisor
It’s hot and stuffy inside the cinder-block, one-room church. More
than one hundred children sit in rows on the cement floor, organized by
age and gender. Parents crowd around barred windows and doors.
The noise is loud – and probably seems louder to me because it’s all
in Spanish – parents calling to their children, older kids teasing one
another as they sit impatiently, a few younger ones crying anxious
tears.
Pastor Bismarck turns on a microphone and begins to speak in Spanish.
He welcomes the children to this small church in a barrio a few hours’
drive from Managua, Nicaragua. It was only 15 years ago that he was
sitting on a church floor just like these children, waiting to receive
the first gift he had ever received – an Operation Christmas Child shoe
box.
With young Bismarck’s box came two gifts that helped change his life:
a soccer ball, and news that Jesus Christ loves him. “Before that gift,
I didn’t know what a gift was,” says Bismarck. “The gifts helped us
understand that we were special to the heart of God and that people in
Canada cared for us.”
Accepting Christ’s sacrifice and love for him, Bismarck set out on a
journey to tell other children the same exciting news. He organized a
soccer ministry using the soccer ball from his shoe box gift, and shared
God’s love with street kids as they played the game together. He has
now planted and pastored five churches; that single shoe box gift served
as a catalyst that changed the course of his life.
In the stuffy, hot barrio church, Pastor Bismarck is finishing his
short message, telling the children inside and parents still crowded
around the windows and doors that Jesus loves them and He wants to be
their Friend. Then the gift-filled shoe boxes are given out, row by row
and child by child.
On the count of “uno, dos, tres!” the volume soars as the children
excitedly discover gifts of hats, dolls, trucks, pencils, paper, candy,
and much more. Shouts of joy, surprise, and “gracias!” fill the room.
Pastor Bismarck stands back to watch the commotion. He has no doubt
that Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes are God-given opportunities to
share God’s love with children and families. “A shoe box can move the
heart of a child,” he says. “But not just the heart of a child or one
family. It can change the whole community. And yes, I consider it a
miracle.”
- See more at:
http://www.samaritanspurse.ca/blog/operation-christmas-child/the-power-of-a-simple-gift.aspx#sthash.87pFWJu8.dpuf
A shoebox gift from Operation Christmas Child is often just the first step on a child's journey toward faith in Jesus Christ.
