What it's like to deliver an Operation Christmas Child box

It was hot. And dusty. And honestly, the view out my car window of the wretchedness around me was too much to take in. All I could see were rows and rows of shacks. Thin sheets of metal sort of served as roofs, and all that separated one family home from the next were thin pieces of fabric. No doors. Barefoot kids walking on trash-littered streets. Stray dogs covered in ticks roaming in and out.

I was in Xalapa, Mexico to coordinate a mission project for the International Mission Board. I needed to be securing housing, transportation, food services, etc. for about 100 people who would be serving in the area for a week later that year. I didn’t really have time for this little off-road trip through a Mexican shanty town

We pulled up to a section of shacks, and as we piled out of the SUV, three kids emerged from one of the little box houses. One of the missionaries opened the back hatch to reveal a small stack of Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes.

The kids were so shy. The oldest was a 15 year-old boy, then there was a girl who I’m guessing was about 12, and a kid sister about 6. Their father invited us inside their home, and I held back my tears watching these three impoverished children beam over a shoebox just for them.

Crayons. socks. A little notebook. All things that my kiddos now would shrug off as nothing much.

But in this little home with old sheets for walls, these items were everything.

After all these years, what sticks out the most about this memory was the 15 year old boy. He was so sheepish and shy and grateful. The missionaries later told me that it’s super rare for older kids to get boxes, especially teenage boys. He was really lucky, they said. Lucky.

So here we are, at the time of year when Operation Christmas Child kicks off for the season. I wish I could be back on that off-road drive through a Mexican shanty town with my arms full of anything and everything that would make those barefoot kids beam.

I can’t though. I alone can’t make things better for the impoverished children in Xalapa. Or Bangladesh. Or Syria, or Ukraine, or Turkey, or the Congo, or Haiti. Or Pritchard.

But I know the One who can. And I will praise Him and thank Him for His gift of the cross. And for being our Rescuer.

And out of that joy I hope springs a desire to share with others and spread the gospel as far and wide as I can. Maybe that can start with a shoebox full of items for a teenage boy.

Be a part of Operation Christmas Child this year. It’s super easy.

This Sunday, stop by the table in the lobby at Mars Hill-Mobile to pick up your box and instructions or go to the website by Samaritan’s Purse. Completed boxes must be ready to ship out by mid-November, so go ahead and get started before the holiday season gets going! Email jeannewsmith16@gmail.com with questions.