“Operation Christmas Child is a really tangible, hands-on way that Australians can show love to kids in need around the world,” say Leanne Palmer from Operation Christmas Child.
In this special episode of Helping Hands, we’ll see the wonderful people, passion and purpose behind Operation Christmas Child and journey alongside their work as they coordinate Samaritan Purse’s annual Australia/New Zealand gift-giving initiative.
Hawkesbury Valley Baptist Church is one church of many across the world whose community comes together to fill and donate Operation Christmas Child shoebox gifts every year. It’s an effort that brings people together who share a heart to show practical love to others.
“The goal for today is 1,500 shoeboxes,” explains head volunteer, Ila Spence, while showing the tables laden with items for volunteers to pack. “Never doubt that a small group of committed people can change the world … It’s God’s love in action.”
Samaritan’s Purse have wisely set out clear guidelines for suitable items that can be packed in boxes. They include a combination of things a child both needs and will enjoy, things that are fun and functional, and, importantly, can be sent to any destination without becoming spoiled in transit, or detained in customs.
At St Bishoy Coptic Orthodox College in western Sydney, the school community first embraced Operation Christmas Child five years ago. Teacher, Mrs Amal Awadalla, shares that the children’s desire to positively impact the lives of others around the world has now become part of the college’s culture.
“Our children had the privilege to watch a beautiful video about where these boxes go – over the oceans, across the seas, in the aeroplanes, in the ships … the kids were overwhelmed that these boxes are travelling that far away … and to people they don’t know, to different nationalities. It’s an international work, an international story and we’re proud to be part of it.”
The western Sydney warehouse, featured in this special episode of Helping Hands, is one of eight Operation Christmas Child locations around the world collecting gifts to send to children in one hundred and twenty countries, most of whom will have never received a Christmas gift.
The focus of work at the warehouse is to receive shoeboxes from generous donors and process them so that they are ready for shipping. High shelves around the outskirts of the warehouse fill quickly and the centre of the warehouse floor is set up with ten pods at which up to one hundred volunteers inspect, adjust and scan each box.
Warehouse volunteer, Paul Buckley, takes two weeks of leave from his day job every October to volunteer for Operation Christmas Child and shows Helping Hands the innovative barcode system which makes it possible for donors to track the boxes they’ve donated on their journey from the warehouse to the destination where a child will receive it.
“I just love the idea that we’re giving a present that we don’t have to give, but we just want to give (them) to these kids because we love them so much.”
To anyone who enters the warehouse as an Operation Christmas Child volunteer, the enormity of the overall project soon becomes evident. By individually giving their time to pack, sort and process shoeboxes, a common feeling is created of worthwhile purpose and joy.
“We can say that we want to make a difference in our world, and we can say that we care for kids in need,” says Leanne, “but when we say practical ‘hands on’ it’s actually about … doing something that says, ‘This is a box full of things that I’m so excited to be giving to you’.”
Volunteers, Lina and Larsa, know the impact a shoebox gift has on the life of a child. As children, they lived in war-torn Iraq and their lives were changed when they each received a shoebox gift. Remembering the love, joy and gratitude they felt as children, they now give their time to pack and prepare shoebox gifts for children around the world.
“The kid that’s receiving this gift, that was us twenty years ago … We were kids in a country that was going through war. We received it, and it truly did mean a lot to us,” says Lina.
“They are very simple items, and they may not mean anything to others,” shares Larsa, “but to me, at that point, they were a ray of hope.”
More than 11 million Operation Christmas Child shoebox gifts will be packed, processed and sent to their final destinations this year. Each gift is so much more than the contents it holds, says Dave Wu, Queensland Regional Ministry Leader.
“By giving an Operation Christmas Child shoebox – it’s opening many doors … (It) equips churches to connect with their local communities ... If we pack 5,000 shoeboxes in a session … we remind them (volunteers) that’s 5,000 children that will receive those gifts … The reality is – we just don’t know exactly what that box will mean to a person that receives it. It’s far greater than just giving gifts.”
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