International Christmas Mission Starts at Home  

by Madison Pitsch 

Those old shoe boxes in your closet? They can change somebody’s life.  

Ask Elizabeth Henry, a Full-Circle Speaker for the Samaritan’s Purse project, Operation Christmas Child. 

By the age of 10, Henry had been living in an orphanage in Ukraine for three years. She was looking for a sign to go on in life when the director of the orphanage announced to them they were getting boxes from Operation Christmas Child. 

“I needed a sign from God,” Henry said in a phone interview. “I needed a hope to go on… . Receiving that shoe box was the first time that I felt loved. I couldn’t believe a stranger had packed that box just for me.” 

“Since 1933, Operation Christmas Child has been the largest Christmas project of its kind,”  Caleb Luketic, media relations intern for Samaritan’s Purse said.  “Around 146 million shoe boxes are collected and distributed across 160 countries and territories across the globe. These boxes, typically filled with toys, hygiene items and school supplies are given to children in need.” 

“The point is not the things in the box, it’s the Gospel,” Henry said. “The things will break, but the Gospel will stay forever.” 

Shortly after Henry received her box in the Ukraine, she accepted Jesus Christ as her Savior. At the age of 13, Henry was adopted by her family in Williamsburg, Va. She and her family began to pack boxes for the project, throwing the now-annual “Henry Family Packing Party,” which is entering its seventh year. 

Operation Christmas Child is especially successful because it is so easy to contribute to the cause. Nearly 500,000 volunteers worldwide are involved in collecting, shipping and distributing these gifts. A box typically costs about $25 to fill, which is a relatively low-cost project for college students. 

“I love getting to serve with Operation Christmas Child because it’s a simple project that’s enabling the good news of Jesus to be shared with unreached groups around the world, giving us the opportunity to put feet to the message of hope and love by packing these gift-filled shoeboxes,” Luketic said. 

Close to 11.5 million shoe boxes were distributed last year alone, and Operation Christmas Child wants to add 12 million boxes to that count.  

Though it is a strictly international mission, Operation Christmas Child begins at home. Concordia University students packed up their boxes on Nov. 15 and took them to the collection site the next day. The week after was a nationwide collection week. 

“We decided to do it for Mission Minded Students to do something locally that has more of an international impact,” Julie Johnston Hermann, director of global opportunities said. Concordia students usually pack around 35-50 boxes.  

“The boxes had just shown up… . It was fun because they gave out a bunch of boxes and the kids would open it up and they love it,” Hermann said. “It was fun to watch. There definitely is a “wow factor” when opening the box.” 

There are several ways to get involved on the local level. You can fill a shoebox, but you can also pay a small fee to “follow your box.” If you follow the box, you can put a label on it, tape it to the box and see where your box actually lands. If you can’t get out of the house to go shopping, there is an option to “buy a box,” which takes your donation and puts it toward a box made by someone else.