Giving gifts that change lives
There are people who the idea of gift-giving is a foreign concept, whose idea of the perfect gift what others would call essentials.
By News Channel NebraskaSIDNEY - We’re quickly approaching the gift-giving season of Christmas. There’s the retail encouragement to purchase the newest and greatest. Menus are planned for Thanksgiving’s turkey and the works and the planning of Thanksgiving and gifts associated with it.
But about the people who have never experienced the concept of gifts, or receiving a gift for no other reason than because? How many gifts given are life-changing?
Samaritan’s Purse started a program several years ago called Operation Christmas Child. The program started when Franklin Graham was contacted in 1993 by a man in England asking if he’d be interested in packing shoe boxes for families in war-torn Bosnia.
Franklin contacted a pastor-friend who in turn promoted the project in his church, resulting in about 11,000 gift boxes that first year. Since then, more than 198 million children in 170 countries have received gifts through Operation Christmas Child.
The Operation Christmas Child website says “In 2021 alone, more than 10.5 million Operation Christmas Child shoebox gifts were collected throughout Australia, Austria, Canada, Finland, Germany, New Zealand, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States.” This year’s effort includes a drive to top last year’s numbers.
Locally, Ric and Cheryl MacKenzie have been promoting the program for about eight years.
She said she is encouraged by the stories of children in orphanages who received Operation Christmas Child gifts, some who have never been given a gift.
“Every item, no matter what you put in [the gift box] will be used by God,” Cheryl MacKenzie said.
The local drop off for this year’s gift collection is at the Evangelical Free Church, 2763 11th Avenue in Sidney, Nov. 14-21. Drop-off times are 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Monday, Nov. 14, 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., Tuesday, Nov. 15, 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., Wednesday, Nov. 16, 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 17, 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. Friday, Nov. 18, 9:30 a.m. to 12 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 19 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 20 and 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. Monday, Nov. 21.
Packing a gift box is as simple as a person wants. Green and red-colored shoe boxes may be available at the Evangelical Free Church (1-308-254-6162), or use a typical shoe box. Start with a “Wow!” item, a primary gift, and fill the rest of the box with toys, personal care items, and school supplies. Gift boxes should not include food items, including gum and candy, liquids or lotions, knives and war or military-themed gifts.
Participants are encouraged to include $10 for shipping costs. From the Sidney drop-off, gifts are taken to a Denver processing center where gift boxes are checked before sent to other countries.
Gift boxes can also be built online at samaritanspurse.org/buildonline.