Everyone had a responsibility at each station...from taking out the money inside the box to pay for shipping, to searching for "inappropriate items", to removing candy that will melt. You might be wondering what kind of inappropriate items people would put into a child's christmas gift, but you'd be surprised what falls into that category. The hardest part was going through some of the boxes that people had carelessly or thoughtlessly packed: a "Devotion for Daddies" book in a 10-14 year old girls box. Really????????
The one that really hit home with me was when they told us we had to remove all camo items: GI Joes, Transformers, even Teddy Bears with camo on them. It didn't occur to me that some of these children live in war-torn countries and that it would be a very negative thing for them to receive.
DW and I stood on opposite sides of the table and collecting the money out of the boxes that were put in the top to cover shipping. Here is what the "processing station" looked like:
Going through the boxes:
DW and I with Ryan and Celeste (thank for inviting us!)
We took the 8-10 p.m. shift and the time passed SO fast!!!
...and boxes like this made my eyes "sweat" a few times!
I can't even begin to express how rewarding that experience was. Both DW and I were exhausted after work and were practically falling asleep on the trip up to the processing center on the 1 hour drive. I admit, I wondered what I had gotten myself into, but all selfish thoughts like that flew out of my head the second I walked through the door and started thinking about what these boxes would mean to a child that this is the ONLY thing they get for Christmas this year. I'm want to try to continue to seek out humbling experiences like this that strength my hope and faith!
If you want to check out whether there is a processing center near you or your church would like to get involved in making the Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes, click here.
10 comments:
That looks like so much fun-- the thing with volunteering is that it usually ends up blessing us more than the other person. And BTW- Love that Dusty's name tag is upside down.
That is so cool! Our church has done Operation Christmas Child before and the class I tought (pre-teen girls) filled several boxes and put cards and pictures in the boxes. And one year we actually got a respons back from a little boy in Africa. It was so incredible!!
Volunteering at the processing center looks amazing!! What a rewarding experience!
What an awesome opportunity! Hubby & I love packing those shoe boxes!
Ya'll are awesome! How amazing! We made some boxes at church, but how neat to see this side of the ministry!!!!! I have been praying for you lots, friend! HUGS!
what an awesome thing to be a part of...
Thank you for sharing your experience with the OCC. I was thrilled to put together 4 boxes this year and loved every minute of it. I love seeing the next step after dropping them off.
Shannon
Hi--I'm Alyson's "other" Amy and I just wanted to tell you
1) I signed up to follow your blog today (been reading it but now it's "official")
2) Any friend of Aly's is a friend of mine!
3) Been praying for you and will keep doing so.
4)Loved your post about the gift boxes. Had no idea someone had to go through them after we packaged them!
Hope you have a nice weekend,
Amy V.
I LOVE Operation Christmas Child...it's such a great program! :)
How wonderful that you were able to help with this! We do a box every year, but it's the "behind the scenes" that I knew little about. Thanks for sharing! :)
SUCH a great Chrismtas gift- ---- you guys are both awesome for doing this!
Post a Comment
Yes, please!