Last Sunday night we celebrated Operation Christmas Child (OCC) with a lovely meal, an incredible testimony, and an inspiring presentation. Susan D, and our church's OCC team, along with OCC leadership from metro Atlanta, showed us the impact our shoeboxes make for the gospel. Something as ordinary as a shoebox can completely change someone's life for eternity.
All of us were moved by Kristiana's testimony. She shared about growing up in Riga, Latvia amid dire circumstances. God took Kristiana and her two younger sisters from an alcoholic mom to an orphanage intended for boys. They lived without knowledge of the gospel until they unexpectedly received OCC shoeboxes. Later a Christian couple in Atlanta adopted Kristiana and her sisters.
My family gets excited about packing shoeboxes. When Miles was 7 and Madeleine was 5, I asked them, "Who are we packing our shoebox for?" I expected Miles to say a boy and Madeleine a girl. But, without hesitation, Madeleine replied, "We are packing our box for Steven." That autumn we talked about Steven and prayed he might receive our shoebox and believe the gospel.
From this side of eternity, we have no way of knowing if Miles and Madeleine's shoebox made it to a boy named Steven. However, I do know our shoebox made it to a boy who needed the hope of Christ and the promise of the gospel. In heaven, maybe God will show us how he glorified himself through our Christmas shoeboxes, gospel tracts, godward conversations, missions trips, and more.
Over the next few weeks, you can participate in Operation Christmas Child with our church. You can serve with Susan D's team, pack a shoebox, donate items for our packing party, attend our packing party on Sunday, October 11th, volunteer for collection week November 16th-23rd, or serve at the OCC processing center. Most of all you can pray for the gospel to bear much fruit through these efforts.
In Christ,
Pastor Nathan