When this staff writer was growing up, he packed many shoeboxes during holiday seasons with his siblings and parents. To be able to interview Janene Case, a member of Operation Christmas Child’s South Central Missouri Area Team, was both an honor and wonderful opportunity to find out what exactly happens after dropping off the shoebox to local churches.
Operation Christmas Child (OCC) is under the umbrella of Samaritan’s Purse, a well-known international disaster relief organization led by Billy Graham’s son, Franklin Graham, that began in 1993.
The mission of OCC is to provide local partners around the world with simple shoeboxes filled with hygiene items, school supplies, and toys to reach out to children with the good news of Jesus Christ. These shoebox gifts are shipped outside of the United States to children affected by war, poverty, disease, natural disaster, and famine.
OCC is not intended as a solution for meeting physical needs, assured Case, but a strategy for the local church to meet spiritual needs of children in its communities. The unexpected gift delights and sparks hope in the life of a child as they hear of Jesus' love for them, said Case.
OCC has become a pillar of ministry in Case’s life.
Case became involved in packing and sending shoebox gifts several years ago at Victor Baptist Church. When she became the church OCC project leader there, Case would share a video update with the congregation. Case would inevitably end up teary-eyed, due to being touched by the testimonies of how a simple shoebox gift brought joy and hope to a child somewhere around the world.
In March, Case was invited on a vision trip with OCC to observe local ministry partners holding shoebox events in areas of Trinidad and Tobago, an island nation in the southern Caribbean.
The people of Trinidad and Tobago are a melting pot of many ethnic groups. English is the primary language, though there is a distinctive creole presence that appears in their accents, traditions, and cuisines, informed Case.
The vision trip group consisted of about 60 OCC volunteers and staff, including Case’s area team coordinator, Janice Hartinger of Rolla. They were split into groups of 15 to go out over the span of four days to observe local ministry partners hosting shoebox gift distributions in different locations in Trinidad.
They visited four churches over the course of their trip.
The first three churches each had a shoebox outreach event. Pastors and ministry staff that partner with OCC are trained and equipped in how to conduct the outreach.
These local leaders speak the language of the community, know the challenges and obstacles that single parent homes and poverty bring in the life of a child. Many of the ministry partners know the children personally, because they are already trying to provide food, school supplies, and activities that counter the disparaging choices the children face. Through discussion with the ministry partners, those on the vision trip learned that a lot of children are forced to drop out of primary school.
Churches were focused on outreach and providing the love and support needed by meeting basic needs first, to model the love of Christ to children and their families, said Case.
Case observed each of the local churches begin the outreach with prayer, music, and fun games, and then use giant posters that walk the children through the love of Christ. Local churches then share how to accept the gift of forgiveness—they let the children know to make that decision for themselves.
After, the children are given a copy of The Greatest Gift booklet, that goes along with the presentation they heard.
Finally, the time came to pass out the shoeboxes, and Case and other vision trip volunteers were allowed to help pass out the shoeboxes and sit amongst the children. With much excitement, the children then held the shoeboxes on their laps—and waited for the signal to open them.
“I enjoyed watching them very much and interacting with them,” said Case on the children. “But I also enjoyed watching the church leader’s faces as they took in the sight of the joy and excitement of the children.”
At the last church stop of the vision trip, Case and other volunteers and staff attended The Greatest Journey class.
When the children receive a shoebox gift at an outreach event, explained Case, they are invited to come back on a scheduled day to participate in a 12 week discipleship class where they go through lessons in a workbook, informing them more on Christianity.
At the end of the 12 weeks, children are invited to a graduation celebration and are encouraged to bring their parents to show them what they learned through the program. When they graduate, they are given a Bible translated into their own language to encourage them to continue to grow in their faith.
The purpose of the vision trip is to give year round volunteers the chance to see the excellence in which the church partners on the other side of the shoebox gifts facilitate the true meaning of the ministry, explained Case.
Since 1993, approximately 221,000,000 shoebox gifts in over 170 countries have been distributed. Hundreds of unreached people groups, identified by the ministry, have been recipients of the hope of Christ because a simple shoebox gift opened the door, advocated Case.
Children receive shoeboxes in countries around the globe 365 days a year, not just at Christmas.
The South Central Missouri Area OCC Team works in an eight county territory. There are several shoebox drop off locations at churches within the area.
Rolla First Baptist Church is the central drop off location.
Volunteers work all year to support and equip shoebox donor partners leading up to National Collection Week, the third week of November.
This past 2023 season, volunteers and staff collected a total of 13,654 shoeboxes. Dent County collected 1,041 shoeboxes.
Furthermore, there are eight OCC shoebox processing centers in the U.S. where volunteers carefully inspect the shoeboxes for inappropriate items, such as liquids that may ruin other items within the box. Inappropriate items are replaced with an appropriate item, such as jump ropes or other items.
This past season, Case informed, U.S. donors packed 10,051,570 shoebox gifts, and because some countries also pack shoeboxes, globally the 2023 shoebox collection total was 11,330,126.
To learn more about the impact of a simple shoebox gift and how to be involved in the project at a church level, or as a year round volunteer on a local team, go to samaritanspurse.org/occ or SPTV.org/occ to see videos about the ministry.
Case will be sharing her story at Victor Baptist Church June 2 at 11 a.m. She invites all those interested in hearing more to attend and listen.
