Operation Christmas Child
Shoeboxes
Christmas 2013 
St Peter Lutheran Church participated this past Christmas season with Operation Christmas Child (OCC). St. Peter Lutheran collected 21 boxes for children, both boys and girls. Each box was tracked with a unique barcode so we can see where the packages were sent to.
Follow-up
I received a letter from Legendary Baptist Church, that gave a breakdown of the OCC Relay Center, and the boxes that they had collected, and it was amazing at the number of boxes from our lake area. The number collected by each church or organization or individual varied from 2 Shoeboxes to 300! Legendary Baptist collected 300 boxes! The goal was 923 shoeboxes, however, they exceeded this by collecting 977 shoeboxes from the lake area. The East Texas area collected over 32,000 shoeboxes for the children. Last year a new collection center came to the Dallas/Fort Worth area, and they processed over 400,000 shoeboxes. The boxes were sent countries like Peru, Honduras, Mexico and other smaller countries.
Our Shoeboxes destinations
Several of our shoeboxes went to Mexico –
Twenty-seven percent of Mexico’s 116 million people are 14-years-old or younger. In the 2013-2014 season, 714,358 shoebox gifts from the United States will be delivered to children in Mexico, which first received the gifts in 1995. Since then, 7,444,818 children in Mexico have received a shoebox gift.
Several of our shoeboxes went to Honduras –
Thirty-six percent of Honduras’s 8.4 million people are 14-years-old or younger. In the 2013-2014 season, 146,832 shoebox gifts from the United States will be delivered to children in Honduras, which first received the gifts in 1996. Since then, 1,947,506 children in Honduras have received a shoebox gift.
Several of our shoeboxes went to Peru –
Twenty-eight percent of Peru’s 29.8 million people are 14-years-old or younger. In the 2013-2014 season, 208,656 shoebox gifts from the United States will be delivered to children in Peru, which first received the gifts in 1996. Since then, 1,682,698 children in Peru have received a shoebox gift.
Several of our shoeboxes went to Panama –
Twenty-eight percent of Panama’s 3.5 million people are 14-years-old or younger. In the 2013-2014 season, 85,008 shoebox gifts from the United States will be delivered to children in Panama, which first received the gifts in 1996. Since then, 1,030,161 children in Panama have received a shoebox gift.
Christmas 2014
Legendary Baptist Church is looking for anyone who would like to volunteer for the 2014 at the processing center in November/December, please call their church for more information of the dates and availability when they come available.
Thank you to everyone who helped bring Christ and Christmas to a child in Poverty. Let’s start thinking about packing those boxes now. And when you see something on sale that would be great in a shoebox, pick it up, and get started, as it is never to early to start thinking about Christmas!
If you have questions on how you can help, please email me, leave me a message here, or see me in Church on Sunday!
Lisa’s Compassion
From the Samaritan’s Purse website:
MISSION STATEMENT
Samaritan’s Purse is a nondenominational evangelical Christian organization providing spiritual and physical aid to hurting people around the world. Since 1970, Samaritan’s Purse has helped meet needs of people who are victims of war, poverty, natural disasters, disease, and famine with the purpose of sharing God’s love through His Son, Jesus Christ.The organization serves the Church worldwide to promote the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Lisa's Quilting Passion 