We have 100 empty shoeboxes wrapped in vibrant Christmas paper.

We have an Operation Christmas Child packing party planned for the morning of September 25. All are welcome to join in the packing fun. The Children’s Church kids will lead the way, but there will be work for everyone. We will begin at 9 am and continue until all the boxes are packed. Join us between or after worship services.

We have plenty of crayons and markers, pens and pencils, erasers and sharpeners, sunglasses and socks, washcloths and toothbrushes, and stuffed animals. We’re thankful to all who have contributed.

And we have a few needs, if you’re looking to contribute, by September 25. We need more scissors, glue sticks, rulers (with a metric edge), notebooks, tissues, adhesive bandages, combs, and brushes.

We could use a few more “wow” gifts like small balls and cars, jewelry, bandanas, ball caps, yo-yos, jump ropes, T-shirts, and flip-flops.

We also accept financial donations, to complete our shopping needs and to cover shipping costs. The shipping price has jumped to $10 per box this year.

This is the 12th year the Fellowship of the Cross has led an OCC drive at SUMC. We have shipped more than 1,100 boxes to children in Honduras, the Dominican Republic, Ukraine, Columbia, the Bahamas, and several nations in Africa.

As we enter the final month of our Operation Christmas Child campaign, consider this note from Olesea, who was 5 and living in Moldova (a nation snuggled between Ukraine and Romania) when she received her shoebox.

“The thing that stood out to me the most was a pack of colorful markers. I couldn’t take my eyes off them. There were so many in the pack! I didn’t know some of the colors existed,” Olesea, now a nurse, said in testimony posted on the OCC website.

“I was so excited I jumped up and started running around the room… I always wished I could color and draw—the markers were exactly what I wanted. I could hardly wait to show my friends at school the new markers.”

“I began a personal relationship with Jesus. He became real to me. The day I received my shoebox, I went from knowing about Jesus to actually knowing Him. I began a personal relationship with Jesus — one where He is my Best Friend — instead of just a powerful Man I’d heard about during Sunday School.”

“God used my shoebox to reassure me that He really loved me. It showed me that God does answer prayer. God became real and personal to me.”