In January of 2004, I was working for Operation Christmas Child. At that time, I was also in the midst of planning our April wedding. Our engagement party was set for a Saturday in January--it happened to be the Saturday before my Monday-morning departure for Panama, where I was going to distribute OCC shoe boxes.
This engagement party was the first time that our immediate family members met each other. We have immediate family in California, Tennessee, Georgia and Spain. In advance of the party, I asked each family -- if they wanted to -- to bring at least one item to put into a shoe box for Operation Christmas Child that we would fill as a combined family for a little girl in the 2 to 4 age range. (I chose this age category because each of our siblings has a little girl in or close to this age range.)
With everyone traveling from so far away -- and with small children -- I wondered if anyone would remember to bring anything for the shoe box. Boy, was I surprised. Each and every family contributed, and we had more than enough things to fit into one box. (And even though my sister from Spain could not attend, she made sure there were some things representing Spain in the shoe box.) I also was concerned that we would have a lot of duplicates -- say, five toothbrushes or seven stuffed animals, etc. But we had hardly any duplicates and just the right amount of items to generously fill a shoe box. I was overwhelmed with the generosity of our family members.
The night before I left for Panama, I carefully packed the shoe box with all of the items. Tanna, my fiancé at the time, printed a family photo that was taken at the engagement party, and we included it in the card that was placed in the shoe box. Before I left, I took a photo of the gift-filled shoe box and card. I was so thankful that each family participated and together we had filled a shoe box with gifts for a less fortunate child. To me, it was a symbol of the joining of our families. More than that, it was an opportunity for our combined family to share the love of Christ with a little girl in Panama.
I packed the shoe box -- wrapped in bright, Sesame Street-themed Christmas paper -- in my carry-on luggage to Panama City. Unfortunately, a few of us who had flown out of Atlanta had missed our connecting flight in Texas, and therefore arrived in Panama a day late. This was very disappointing, as we were to have taken another flight out of Panama City to another area of the country, where we were scheduled to distribute shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child. Of course, we missed that flight as well.
In the meantime, however, as we were finally making our way to Panama, some folks were busy setting up some special distributions for those of us who did not make it in time to travel to other parts of the country. We were called the “Extra Special Distribution Team.” It is my understanding that the two distributions we were a part of on our first day in Panama otherwise would not have taken place. You see, God had a reason for our missing our connection in Texas.
The first distribution we attended took place at Iglesia Palabras de Vida Eterna -- or, in English, Words of Eternal Life Church (or something like that). This was in Las Garzas, a poor community of some 12,000 people -- the majority of whom do not have electricity or water. There were about 100 children there from the surrounding neighborhood, which consisted mostly of squatters. It was here that I gave a precious little girl our family shoe box.
The little girl--"J"--had a little sister and a little brother. J was 4 years old, and she seemed very excited to be at the church and to be participating in the church program. During the shoe box distribution, I gave her our family shoe box. She took it back to her seat and -- to my surprise -- did not open it right away. She did not seem to know what to do with the box of gifts. I attempted to talk to her a little bit, but she seemed shy -- and I did not want to make her uncomfortable. I took a few photos and then moved on to play with some of the other children.
A few moments later, however, J's mother came up to me. She had looked in the box and saw the card with our family photo on the front. She recognized me and asked me -- through sign language, mostly -- if the box was from me and if the people in the photo were my family. I answered her questions, and she seemed so grateful. We then took a few more photos with the mother and the three children. I remember asking the mother of three how old she was. I can’t remember exactly, but I think it was somewhere in the mid-20s range -- younger than me. The family seemed very reserved, but very appreciative at the same time.
Later, as we walked through the community, we walked by their very humble home (remember, the neighborhood was mostly made up of squatters), and they all waved and smiled. It was an incredible privilege to be able to carry a shoe box packed with gifts from two families who would soon be joined together. And those gifts had influences from Spain, Korea and the United States -- all going to Panama! The best thing, though, was to be able to -- as millions of people do each year -- help share the Gospel message through a simple shoe box gift.
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National Collection Week is going on NOW through Monday, November 23.
Click here for step-by-step instructions on how you can pack a shoe box and brighten the life of a child.
To find your closest drop-off site, click here.
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