Klamath Falls FIRST ANNUAL Community Wide Packing Party THIS YEAR

For a LONG time God has been building in me a desire to have a community wide packing party here in Klamath Falls. This year is the year we begin!!

  OPERATION CHRISTMAS CHILD

                    First Annual

        Community Packing Party

          Klamath Falls Oregon

This year, for the first time in Southern Oregon, we will have a community packing party, right here in the Klamath Basin, in OCTOBER, location and date to be announced.

Our prayer is that this packing party will be a blessing HERE in the Basin. It will be an opportunity for individuals and families to come and pack a shoebox, whether they can afford to do so on their own or not and to experience the joy and blessings of giving to children in need and to participate in the sharing of Christ’s love around the world.

We pray also that it will be an opportunity to share with many throughout our area that our God is a living and active God as they hear the stories of the work God is doing through Operation Christmas Child. 

This will be a time for us to come together, from around the Basin, and to work together in carrying out the Great Commission!

If you want to help, if you have items to donate, or if you just want more information, come to one of our informational meetings or leave a message here or visit us on Facebook at OCC Southern Oregon! I will keep this page updated about all upcoming meetings and any info as we make plans.

So when are our first meetings??? Friday April 4th at 6:30 pm and Saturday April 5th at 1pm at Calvary Chapel Klamath Falls. Come to either one to learn more and to get involved. 

Kids Packing Shoeboxes for Kids

I first got involved with Operation Christmas Child when my kids were little in the simple way most of us do, packing shoeboxes. I wanted my children to learn about giving, about praying and loving others, even those they may never meet in this lifetime, and about the Great Commission. Operation Christmas Child gave my children a simple way to do that and it was SO meaningful to them.

Fast forward a decade.. and as a year round volunteer I am even MORE passionate about OCC. With each story and video my heart for this ministry grows, but even now my FAVORITE way to pack shoeboxes is WITH KIDS!

This past weekend Calvary Chapel Klamath Falls Oregon had their packing party with the children's ministry. They collect items all year round, based on sales, and now they get to pack the boxes. The kids LOVE IT. They are blessed by giving. And I am blessed watching them and listening to them as they carefully pick items to bless a child.

Wednesday night another church in town will have their packing party.... they gather in a blitz in the weeks leading up to the party. And these children will also get to share in the joy of giving and praying and loving others.

Next week, the Good News Club I teach will also pack shoeboxes.... again I will share the stories of the work God is doing through these boxes... we will pray... and pack... and be blessed.

Packing parties are happening around my county, across the state, the US, and in many parts of the world.... RIGHT NOW... so that other children will be blessed, and receive these gifts of love, with the Gospel message. 

Children giving to children... it is a beautiful thing.

Printable BULK LABELS for your shoebox packing party

So excited that Clip With Purpose (an awesome OCC blog) shared this printable... when you are doing a LOT of shoeboxes, printing them a couple per page is wasteful and so is cutting apart all of the brochures... of course, we all COULD do this ourselves... but I did not. So THANKS.

Clip with Purpose posted: "Are you printing out your labels and needs LOTS of them? Our friend Ray helped us out and made printable sheets for us! There are 12 to a page. Some sheets have no age checked, but if you need to save time....print out the ones that are! (Boys first, then keep scrolling to find the Girls.) Just select which page you want to print when your printer screen prompt comes up!"

http://www.clipwithpurpose.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/OCC-Labels-All-Ages.pdf

Pack Shoeboxes with My Hope America

Pack with My Hope America

Spread the Gospel Abroad and at Home

My Hope America is based on a simple biblical principle introduced by the Apostle Matthew who invited people into his home to meet Jesus (Matthew 9:9–10). You too can “become a Matthew.” The nine training episodes below will equip you to invite others to hear the life-changing message of the Gospel in your home, church, or another gathering place. Register your packing party and receive a package of videos featuring a new message of hope from Billy Graham, dynamic music, and powerful testimonies. You can also order a free Operation Christmas Child party pack, which includes everything you need to host 20 guests.

Have you ever wanted to find a way to share the Gospel with your neighbors? Family or friends? Have you wanted to share about Operation Christmas Child?? My Hope America is Billy Graham's upcoming program with a vision for sharing the Gospel in a meaningful way with neighbors and friends so that this nation is reached for Christ!

My Hope America has training videos and aids so that this is VERY doable. Sometimes this can be well outside our comfort zone.... but some things are WORTH stepping outside our comfort zone.

Visit the site, watch the videos, learn more, and pray about this. It is a huge opportunity!  http://www.samaritanspurse.org/operation-christmas-child/pack-with-my-hope-america/

Packing Parties are FUN!

I found this post last year about a family that holds packing parties in their house. She has written a delightful blog on it at http://www.homeschoolcreations.net/2012/10/packing-a-shoebox-for-operation-christmas-child/ so check it out and be INSPIRED.

Here is her opener:

We’ve already had one amazingly fun shoebox packing party for Operation Christmas Child and have one more planned this week with another group of friends. The shoebox packing party was much fun. Around the house we set up four different areas so that we didn’t congest one area of the house, so today I wanted to share a few pictures with you and what we did together.

And the blog goes on to give fabulous ideas for holding a packing party! It is easy and FUN and such a blessing. 

Tool Box Packing Party

I found a post over at the Steward Shop blog and was blown away... and my mind went spinning... and my heart went thump thumping as I thought of the blessing those boxes would be to the boy who received them. Potentially LIFECHANGING. WOW. Over at the Steward Shop blog she described a very special packing party.... packing what they called Career boxes for boys for Operation Christmas Child! They packed such amazing things in their boxes- tools as well as school supplies, toiletries, and toys!

And I thought, I absolutely must hurry over to my blog and post this! Now!! Maybe out there... somewhere in blogland, there is another person who finds this exciting as I do.. and wants their Men's Bible study or prayer group to do this... or their son's Boy Scout group.. or their family... or or or.....

What a blessing. And you are probably by now wondering WHAT IS THIS WOMAN RAMBLING ON ABOUT NOW?????

Ok.. enough of ME babbling and onto her post!!
http://stewardshop.blogspot.com/2012/12/the-guys-tool-box-packing-party-over.html

PS. Yes. Toolboxes CAN be used.. and fishing boxes... IF and ONLY IF.. they are the size of standard shoeboxes and have handles, etc that lay flat.So useful!

PPS.. Do you see the potential? Fishing boxes. Sewing boxes. Cooking boxes. Oooooo what wonderful packing parties these could be! And what blessings for an age group that typically does not receive as many shoeboxes!

Calvary Chapel K-Falls had their first packing party!

We have been packing shoeboxes at Calvary Chapel for years here... and we are the drop off location in Klamath Falls, but this year we had a new goal. This year we collected items year round so that the children in the youth group and Sunday school could EACH pack a shoebox in a packing party. It was SUCH a blessing to see the joy on the children's faces. To watch them as they intently watched the videos about OCC. To hear their reactions.. and see their prayers.

Some of the things our kids said:
* Oh I wish I could be there to see them open the box!!
* Why can't we do TWO????

Even though trying to get everyone done in a short time meant we had to rush a bit... it was so fun to see the kids trying to figure out the RIGHT pencils or toys or clothes for the boxes. I was so blessed! And I know the children receiving the boxes will be so blessed too!

If you want to see a bit of the packing party, our youth pastor, Andy put together a video... check it out at http://vimeo.com/53646563

Oregon Tech Packing Party

Today there was the first ever campus wide packing party at Oregon Tech!

Christian Fellowship and Chi Alpha hosted a packing party open to others on campus... and together 181 shoeboxes were packed!

The students were awesome workers and are already planning how to do next year! I know the children who receive the boxes will be blessed. And I can't wait to see what happens next year!

4H joins with Operation Christmas Child

For years my children participated in 4H.. in fact, the first time I packed shoeboxes as a group was with 4H. I love the program for all its wonderful benefits, for all it teaches, from basic skills, to communication, and leadership.. and because it also focuses on service. So I rejoiced when I read the news that 4H is officially partnering with Operation Christmas Child this year!! Here is the announcement:

“We are thrilled to announce that we have just formalized a new partnership with 4H. 4-H is the nation’s largest youth development organization. With more than 6 million youth, 540,000 volunteers, 3,500 professionals, and more than 60 million alumni, the 4-H movement supports young people form elementary school through high school with programs designed to shape future leaders.”

2012 Partnership will include:

• National endorsement
• Presence at National 4-H Extension Agent Conference in Orlando Oct. 21-25
• Presence at National 4-H Congress in Atlanta, GA Nov. 23-27
• Social media outlets

If you participate in 4H, please bring this to your leadership! Operation Christmas Child fits in perfectly with the goals of 4H, and is a short term project that can fit so well into the meetings.

A group can have a packing party, focus on making sewing kits or sewing projects for the boxes (or use other skills in 4H for the boxes), collect donations, help at the relay centers,  or promote OCC in their community. So many opportunities to get involved and to uphold the 4H pledge through this project.
 

Calvary Chapel Women's Retreat CRAFTING for the SHOEBOXES

Oh I was SO blessed a week ago when the women of Calvary Chapel, Klamath Falls, helped make items for the shoeboxes at their retreat! On the second day of the retreat, some women went on a hike, and others stayed to fellowship and craft. There were many crafts available.. including 2 for the shoeboxes.

Praise be to God, 22 bracelets with a cross charm, and 20 hair clips were made for girls. As they were made, the women enjoyed fellowship and prayed for the children who would receive them. We hope that they will feel the love in which they were made.. and feel like the beautiful daughters of God they are, whenever they wear them!!

Crafting with others.. FOR others.. is a true joy! If you have a women's group, a retreat, a bible study, or time of fellowship.... making crafts for children to receive in a shoebox is a truly wonderful way to spend some time!

21,106 Shoeboxes

WOW WOW WOW!!! If you follow Life Inside the Box, the OCC blog linked in my sidebar, then you have been seeing the progress of Kathy and her wonderful team in Pennsylvania as they work, with God's help, to do a HUGE PACKING PARTY every year. I just read this update on FB. "Praise God and to God be the glory--21,106 Operation Christmas Child boxes packed today at our Operation Christmas Child Community-Wide Packing Party!!" Oh how I rejoice.. they have exceeded their goal... and 21,106 children will receive a gift packed with love and prayer and shared with the Gospel message from this packing party. Truly.. TO GOD BE THE GLORY!!!

Scouts and Operation Christmas Child

This is our friend Israel. He's leading the way in our new partnership with Boy Scouts of America by setting a goal to pack 200 shoe boxes with his Cub Scouts troop! His mom said: "Lofty goal, I felt, but he said 'Mom.....we can do it!'"
You can order OCC patches for your scout by visiting our website: http://spsocial.org/jq8

If your Scouting group would like to get involved in Operation Christmas Child, NOW is the time. This is a wonderful service project! And it is short term and as big or small as you want it to be.

Operation Christmas Child as part of children's ministry

As anyone who reads this blog knows, I LOVE OCC. I love how it reaches children around the world with the love of Christ, the gospel, and a gift filled with items that bless the child in so many simple ways.

I ALSO love what it does HERE. In the hearts of those who pack shoeboxes.

One of my favorite things to see is CHILDREN packing boxes for the children in need on the other side of the world. It can be difficult to teach children in a real and meaningful way what outreach means, what missions mean, what it means to live out the Great Commission. It can be difficult for children to see beyond their own circumstances. Operation Christmas Child can give a Youth Pastor or Children's Ministry Director a way to do this in a concrete way with the children of their church.
Additionally, the program is small in scope so it is very manageable and can be fit easily into a program.

There are several ways to do this. You can have each classroom pack one box for a boy and one for a girl, and then the class can pray over the boxes and the children who receive them. You can have each family or child pack a box and bring them in for prayer. You can collect items all year round and have a packing party so that each child can pack a box. There are many ways to do OCC with the children of your church.. but all bless the giver and receiver.

 And think of the lessons that can be included! From the Great Commission, to Jesus's desire for children to come to Him, to living out loving one's neighbor. About prayer. About miracles. (There are MANY OCC stories about modern miracles with the shoeboxes.) Or other nations and cultures. About poverty and difficulties in the world and the blessings we have here. Children GET this. It is something they can relate to!

I love when children reach out.. I love to see them blessing other children.. and knowing that in the process kids are hearing about and experiencing Christ's love. I LOVE OCC!!

A Special Birthday Party...

I read the below post on the Samaritan's Purse blog... and thought.. what a SWEET idea! I know that our church youth will be having a packing party,... but this a different sort. Read and see.

A SPECIAL BIRTHDAY PARTY

Kristan Simmons, a home-schooling mom of two girls and a fan of Operation Christmas Child, blogs about a special birthday party she is planning for her daughters.

How many moms and dads honestly look at their kids' play rooms or toy closets and say, “Wow, my little angel(s) could use a few more toys, so let's throw a birthday party?” Not me. So what do you do about birthday parties where kids feel it necessary to bring gifts, you know, 10 or more new toys to add to the mess lying around the house!?

My solution this year is to make the party fun, yet about something more important. I am planning an Operation Christmas Child shoe box packing party for Olivia and Sarah’s birthdays (joint because both girls' birthdays are so close together).

I have really cool ideas about making it fun. Samaritan's Purse provides a whole party pack for just such packing parties. They include stickers, bookmarks, coloring sheets for the kids to color and fill out a short note to put in their boxes.

Soooo, instead of the kids bringing gifts for the birthday girls they will bring shoe box items for a child specified on their invitation. We will have a wrapping station where the boxes will get decorated by the kids, a packing station, a letter writing station where they can do their coloring sheets and write their letters, a photo booth where the kids can have their picture taken to put in the box, and a video station where they can see the video of kids receiving boxes.

We will wrap the evening up with prayer over the boxes and some fun and games—a pinata maybe with additional items they can collect to put in their boxes, a scavenger hunt where they can hunt for items to put in their boxes, other prize-winning games where the prizes are added to the kid's box. 

Now for anyone worried about the girls not getting birthday present—don’t! I can guarantee family members will not let them go without. I know Nanny and Poppy, and Grandma and all the aunts and uncles will make sure the girls are spoiled rotten on their big days, but I really want their parties to be fun and meaningful.

Now to be thinking of a really cool cake for this party—maybe a shoe box with the lid sitting off the side and it filled with small toys and such!!! Hmmmm....

Want to host an Operation Christmas Child-themed birthday party? Click here to order party packs or other materials. 

Packing Parties

Have you ever heard of an Operation Christmas Child Packing Party??? 

Who doesn't love a PARTY???

     They can be a wonderful and FUN way to pack boxes. I have been blessed to be part of several over the years that have taken different forms.. but since becoming a year round volunteer and reading about what others do, I realize I have only scratched the surface.


Here are just a few ideas of how people have done packing parties:

• Operation Christmas Child Packing Birthday Party - this could also just be a group of friends or neighbors... but the concept is everyone brings some things.. and together you pack boxes with the misc. supplies you bring in. Combine with some food and fun.. and you have a neat way to put together boxes. And maybe introduce this fun ministry to others.
• Church/Youth Group Packing party - collect the items year round perhaps with a suggested list each month (maybe based on sales? as well as covering basic needs. I will post one possible list at the end of this post) Then get together and fill boxes!!! By buying bit by bit year round and especially with sales.. more can be filled for less.
• Club Packing Boxes- same as above but bring to monthly meetings.. a little at a time or all at once (AWANAS, 4H, Scouts, Sports teams, etc etc etc.)
• Theme Packing Parties - same as above.. but maybe a sewing/quilting club MAKES things for the boxes.. or sports team builds sports theme boxes
• Community Packing Party - this can be small or BIG scale. K-Love has done dozens around the nation... and other communities have done it on their own.. gathering donations from businesses and individuals towards a BIG party where people come together to pack the boxes. How fun!

This year I hope that we will have several packing parties around the area. Do you already do one?? Any ideas about how you made it work? 

I will be talking to businesses in the area (dentists, hotels, stores, etc) to gather some basic donations, God willing... and I will be sharing with those groups that would like help with their packing party. If you want help starting one, materials, ideas, or donations.. let me know. I would love to help.

A YEAR OF OPERATION CHRISTMAS CHILD

January

After Christmas Clearance items- including wrapping paper, candy, toys, etc

February

After Valentine’s Day Clearance

-stuffed animals (hearts can show love of Christ)

-hard candy

-dollar store/craft store clearance items (notebooks, erasers, pencils, puzzles…)

March

Washcloths

Soap

April

After Easter Clearance

-stuffed animals (lambs!! Cute animals)

-hard candy

-dollar store/craft store clearance items (notebooks, erasers, pencils)

May

Toothbrush

Toothpaste

June

Vacation Items- hotel soap

Outdoor toys- Small balls, Frisbees, jump ropes (dollar store?)

July

Calculators, Sewing Kits (older children)

Musical Instruments (harmonicas, kazoos, small recorders or whistles)

August

Sale School and Art Supplies – pencils, pencil sharpener, crayons, smaller notebooks, markers, erasers, small construction paper

September

Clearance Summer T-shirts, flip flops, hats, socks

October

Combs, Hairbrushes, Hair Ribbons, Barrettes, etc

November

Leftover appropriate hard Halloween Candy

YEAR ROUND- ANY GREAT FIND, fun toys, free after rebate items, clearanced items, hand-made gifts (such as knit hats, tote bags, small soft toys, etc)