Edna DeFord
November was a busy month for our PebbleCreek Community Church as we undertook an Operation Christmas Child shoe box packing party and a prayer dedication day for the filled shoe boxes as one of our Mission activities. A total of 1,162 shoe boxes were filled with gifts and sent through the Operation Christmas Child process which includes over 110 countries around the world. These shoe boxes are given to children who may have never before received a gift. We are advised by Samaritan’s Purse that our 2018 shoe boxes have been sent to the Philippines, Peru and Nicaragua.
This past summer two of our church members were privileged to participate in a shoe box distribution in Uganda, Africa. Their report from that trip includes the following about a group of four-year old boys. “The little boys opened their shoe boxes, took out each item and looked at it carefully. They then repacked the boxes, closed the lids and tried to hand them back to the volunteer who had given them the boxes. These children did not understand that these gifts were for them to keep as they had never before been given such a gift.”
Our church Missions Committee OCC project leaders shop for shoe box items all year long, and annually hold a big packing party to fill boxes the week before Thanksgiving. In addition to this packing party, many individuals shop for “just the right items” to fill their shoe boxes. The boxes include hygiene supplies, school supplies, small clothing items and a toy or stuffed animal.
Donations are also collected designated for the Operation Christmas Child shoe box ministry through our church to finance the shoe box packing party and defray transportation costs of $9 per box. This outreach is a popular mission activity of our church and we encourage anyone interested to become involved with this awesome activity.
PebbleCreek Community Church is a non-denominational church that holds a worship service each Sunday morning at 9:00 a.m. in the Eagle’s Nest Clubhouse Ballroom. We encourage anyone searching for a church to visit with us and to meet our new Pastor, Bob Ripley, and his wife Peggy. See also our website at www.pebblecreekchurch.org.