LOCAL LOCATIONS FOR THE OPERATION
Area churches/organizations that work as dropoff locations for Operation Christmas Child include:
Agape Bible Fellowship, Dayton; Apex Community Church, Kettering; Crestview Baptist Church, Clayton; Crossview Christian Church, Waynesville; Fairview Brethren in Christ Church; Englewood Fellowship Baptist Church; Maineville First Baptist Church; New Lebanon First Christian Church; Huber Heights First Christian Church; Urbana Grace Baptist Church; Cedarville Grace Baptist Church; Troy Grace Bretheren Church; Brookville Great Hope Community Church; New Carlisle Hope Church; Mason Int’l Pentecostal Church of Christ; South Charleston Living Word Church; Vandalia Miami Shores Baptist Church; Dayton Miamisburg Christian Church; Miamisburg Patterson Park Church; Beavercreek Piqua Baptist Church; Piqua Pleasant View Missionary Church; Greenville Shawnee Hills Baptist Church; Jamestown The Gathering; Centerville’s The Medicine Shoppe; Beavercreek Upper Room Worship Center; Tipp City WEEC Christian Radio; Springfield Xenia Nazarene Church, Xenia
At Samaritan’s Purse, there are about 2,000 organizations/families/groups in our region that deliver gift boxes to these OCC centers.
Friday, Nov. 16, was exciting for Evilyn Pinnow, a sprite little 12-year-old from Fort Atkinson, Wis. That day she embarked on a 100 Millionth Box Tour, representing Operation Christmas Child as the 2012 ambassador.
This charity was founded in 1993 to bring Christmas joy and the love of Jesus to children around the world. Pinnow rallied her young friends to start packing for this charity in the spring of 2009. Her Shoebox Club has packed more than 2,000 boxes since then.
Pinnow’s club is part of the Upper Midwest region for the project that is backed by Samaritan’s Purse, an international relief organization based in Boone, N.C. Ohio is part of the Great Lakes region that includes Indiana, Michigan and West Virginia. In 2011, individuals, families, churches and organizations in Great Lakes packed 662,763 shoebox gifts for OCC that were sent to needy children in more than 100 countries worldwide. The region’s office is located in Xenia.
Many churches and organizations in the Dayton area are involved in this seasonal operation, including a National Collection Week that took place Nov. 12-19.
“Patterson Park Church is one of the 24 area relay centers in our area. We’ve added eight to 10 new ones just this year,” said David Boucher, children’s pastor and OCC coordinator for the past seven years. “But I could not do this without a wonderful team of volunteers, some of whom were here for 70 hours this week.
Some of the relay centers have done so well that they have been turned into collection centers. Apex Community Church is one of those locations. The mission group’s goal was to fill and pack 7,500 boxes. Through individual church members and house churches, at both church locations in Kettering and Xenia, Apex sent 7,992 boxes to the OCC regional office in Xenia.
“Your shoeboxes represent more than smiles and laughter; they become gospel opportunities that open doors to share the love of Jesus Christ with children and their families around the world,” said Franklin Graham, president of Samaritan’s Purse.
Gift suggestions for shoeboxes include school supplies, toys, hygiene items, T-shirts, socks, ball caps, sunglasses. Boxes can be labeled for a girl or a boy in three age categories: 2-4, 5-9 or 10-14.
“I’m always amazed at how God can use can use such a simple shoebox gift to make an eternal difference in the life of a child,” Boucher said.
Pinnow’s journey will make a difference in the life of a little girl. Her odyssey included stops at OCC shoebox-packing parties and promotional events in Tennessee, Mississippi, New York, California, Colorado, Minnesota, Georgia and North Carolina. At each stop, a new item was added, such as a jumprope, hair bows or a stuffed musical lamb. Her gift was wrapped in paper that had green, red and blue handprints from her own team. She will hand deliver that special box to a girl in the Dominican Republic this month.
“Go ahead. It’s a hands-on project. Anyone can do it!” said Pinnow. “But please pray that God gets the glory for everything (we) do.”
How to help
Those who want to follow the destination of their boxes online, can donate $7 per box to cover the cost of shipping. It’s not too late to participate. Click on “Build a Box Online” on the website’s Drop-Off Locations page. Boxes can also be shipped year-round to: Operation Christmas Child headquarters, 801 Bamboo Rd., Boone, NC, 28607. For more information on Operation Christmas Child, see the 100 Millionth Box Tour video, or find out how you can help, visit www.samaritanspurse.org/occ.
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