We’re overwhelmed!

The Fellowship of the Cross hoped to inventory everything our SUMC family contributed during Christmas in July and then report the totals in this publication. There was not enough time to get all the Operation Christmas Child contributions sorted and counted.

Your generosity was extraordinary. You knew our needs and responded wonderfully. Look for an update in future publications.

In the church basement, there is a mountain of T-shirts, and a mountain of notebooks. There are stacks of markers, crayons, pencils, pens, and crayons. There are piles of glue sticks, pencil sharpeners, erasers, and assorted school supplies.

There are socks, adhesive bandages, brushes and combs, toy cars, dolls, and other “wow gifts,” including a dancing cactus. We’ve never had a dancing cactus, but it is perfect. We also found empty shoeboxes and cash beneath the trees in the sanctuary, and both are welcomed.

FOTC will continue to collect gifts through September and financial contributions through early November. Prayer is always welcome. We will provide an updated list of our needs later this month.

We will schedule a packing party on a Sunday morning in late September or early October. The Children’s Church kids will be involved, but everyone is invited. The boxes will be blessed during worship services in November and delivered to children somewhere in the world during the Christmas season. The boxes are delivered along with opportunities to know Jesus.

This is our 13th OCC campaign, and we have provided more than 1,300 boxes in the past 12 years. Our boxes have been delivered to children in Ukraine, Africa, South America, Central America, and Caribbean nations.

As always, the Fellowship of the Cross is grateful, encouraged, and renewed by your faith in God and the ways he moves through Operation Christmas Child. We are thankful for your continuing support.