Touching hearts and maybe even changing lives, shoeboxes are gifts to children you may never meet in countries on the other side of the globe.
"These boxes have an impact beyond what we can ever imagine," said Carla West, shoe box coordinator for Ravalli County. "For many children this is the only gift they will ever get in their life."
It's a simple ministry called Operation Christmas Child. Take a shoe box. Fill it with things a child would like: toys, crayons, candy, maybe even shoes. Wrap it up, include $7 to ship it and perhaps include a letter or photo of yourself. Take it to Cornerstone Bible Church by 1 p.m. on November 23rd and Samaritan's Purse will deliver it into the hands of a child in another country.
The shoe boxes go all over. Last year, 8,000,000 shoeboxes went to 130 countries. The Bitterroot Valley sent 1,890 of those and this year, their goal is 2,000. The number had reached 1,070 as of November 17th.
Some 19 volunteers at Cornerstone Bible Church form the collections center and do the initial inspection, double checking that the boxes are properly marked and closed. There are six other volunteers in the valley who head other organizations: churches, Boy Scout troops, 4H clubs and other groups.
Then add five men who load and haul the boxes by horse trailer to Colorado, where the main processing center is located. From there the boxes are flown to China, Afghanistan, Bolivia, Africa, Mexico, Columbia, India and elsewhere around the globe.
"China, Afghanistan… that these boxes are getting in to the countries, into the hands of their children is mind-blowing," said West.
The restrictions on so many of the countries are very tight. "Each country has stipulations of things they will not allow" West explained. "If these boxes are going there then [at the main processing centers] those items are taken out and replaced," said local box inspector Jerry Sue Buckingham.
The boxes collected at Cornerstone so far this year have come from all over the valley and beyond.
"Even 26 boxes came from the Lemhi Methodist Church in Lemhi, Idaho," said West, "and this is the third year we've received boxes from Salmon, Idaho."
Corvallis Community Church contributed 192 boxes this year according to their shoe box coordinator Carol Webber. "I'm so excited and proud of our church. 37 of those came from our Youth Group."
The CCC Youth Group has a special box with shoes in it. By paying online, they were able do down load a bar code to tape on the shoebox and they will be able to track the shoe box and see which country it goes to.
For some people, sending these gifts is a way of helping those far less fortunate. For others, it is a chance to make a difference in someone's life (in some countries you can go to school only if you have shoes); and for many people, the shoebox is a tangible message of the meaning of Christmas, even in countries where the holiday isn't recognized or celebrated.
Originally, the shoebox gift idea was the brainstorm of Dr. Bob Pierce the original founder of the orphan support organization called World Vision. The ministry is now led by Franklin Graham, son of Evangelist Billy Graham, President and CEO of Samaritan's Purse.
Shoebox gifts touch lives that may have only seen war, poverty, death and starvation. Children who are destitute, refugees, orphans …children that need hope, laughter and joy.
"In their shoebox they get a gospel book in their own language and are given the opportunity to complete a 10 lesson bible course," said Greg Reinhardt Cornerstone Bible Church shoebox coordinator, "It's a ministry to get God's word out to people around the world."
Send a message of love and hope to children – with just a shoebox and a giving heart.
To find out more about the shoe box effort, click here.
- Michelle McConnaha reporting for kpax.com
