Hello TCCBC! I’ve missed seeing all of you at church but was so blessed to work alongside some of you and see some of you as you dropped off shoeboxes during National Collection Week for Operation Christmas Child.
This was the 6th year for our church to be a Drop Off Location for Alameda County. The mission of Operation Christmas Child is to provide God’s love in a tangible way to children in need around the world, and together with the local church worldwide, to share the Good News of Jesus Christ.
It starts with a simple shoebox. Fill it with gifts: Select a medium to large “wow” item such as a soccer ball with pump or stuffed animal, then fill with other fun toys, hygiene items, and school supplies. Your donation of $9 sends these shoeboxes from a collection center like ours to the processing center. From there, cartons are shipped to over 100 countries.
The COVID-19 global pandemic has disrupted everyday life for millions of people around the world. Yet, Samaritan’s Purse continues to share the eternal hope of the Gospel and to serve in Jesus’ Name. This year, we had a curbside drop off. Our masked volunteers greeted and directed cars/donors so that we could retrieve the shoebox donations. We used a QR code to have a touchless way to leave contact information and the number of shoeboxes that were dropped off.
At TCCBC, We had 29 volunteers who put almost 139 volunteer hours to collect 1185 shoeboxes which were packed into 83 cartons and sent to the Central Drop Off Location in Pleasanton.. TCCBC contributed 102 of those shoeboxes! Alameda County collected a total of 7439 shoeboxes! Each shoebox is a Gospel Opportunity for a child in need.
Being a part of the Collection Network, we are ACTIVE in greeting donors and EFFICIENT and ACCURATE in collecting, counting and cartonizing shoeboxes.
More importantly our Drop Off Location is PRAYERFUL and TRANSFORMATIONAL. We prayed over each shoebox and each donor that came to our curb. Through this ministry, we are able to touch the lives of children in need across the world and also people that come to our church. We had people that donated shoebox gifts and people that donated their talents to make gifts to go into the shoeboxes. Our very own Selina crocheted a bunch of hats, headbands and toys and made sock dolls for OCC! Another lady from the community made 20 little girl dresses, hair accessories and panties! She was blessed because we were so grateful for her gifts. A few people just walked by asking what we were doing and looking for a handout. People are in need — physically, financially, emotionally, mentally, AND spiritually.
Not only will the children receiving these shoeboxes be blessed, but we can be a blessing to the people who come to our church! Be encouraged TCCBC! You are doing a good work and our Father in heaven will be glorified!
Matthew 5:16 “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”
Many thanks to all of our volunteers who served during National Collection Week at our Curbside Drop Off and at home packing shoeboxes, praying for OCC and/or making shoebox gifts! We appreciated all of your prayers, shoeboxes, donations and love!
Remember: Each shoebox is a Gospel Opportunity for a child in need. Each shoebox means that a child will hear how much God loves them and have the joy of opening a shoebox. All praise and glory to God for his provision this year!
Hope to see you all next year in person!
Other English Articles
Comments are closed.