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Our guest blogger this week is Karen Ferris. Karen is part of the Children’s Ministry Team and is the leader of a special project that is part of Life at Northpark. Read on as Karen shares about Operation Christmas Child. This project is an integral part of how our church fulfills its mission to let God love us and let God love others through us.
I cannot tell you how much joy it brings me to talk about Operation Christmas Child. If you did not know, Operation Christmas Child is a ministry of Samaritan’s Purse that distributes shoeboxes filled with goodies to children all over the globe. Orphans in Guatemala, children in West Africa, and even kids in remote islands in the South Pacific. Packing small gifts in a shoebox is just the beginning that awaits these precious little ones. Each child that receives a box will have the Gospel message taught to them in their own language! How awesome is it that we have the amazing opportunity to spread the love of Christ to kids around the world. I remember listening to a young woman tell her story of receiving a shoebox. She lived in an orphanage in Central America and had never been taught about who God or Jesus was. As a child, she was ecstatic about receiving a doll and her very own toothbrush, but even more heartwarming was hearing for the first time that she was loved. Being the hands and feet of God is vitally important, so much so that Jesus said, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone. (Mark 16:15)”
So, I count it an honor and a privilege to serve the youth of the world by putting together shoeboxes with everyone in the church. My heart gets excited thinking about the smiling faces that will receive their gifts offered to them in love.