Operation Christmas Child brings joy and hope to millions of children in desperate situations worldwide through gift-filled shoe boxes and the good news of God's love.

We will once again be filling shoe boxes, so take advantage of the back-to-school sales and begin collecting small items for your box. CBC's goal is to fill and send out 60 boxes this season, including the shipping costs for each box.

This year Samaritan's Purse has something new for you.  You can download these All About Me coloring pages to send with your shoe box.  This way you can tell the children who get your boxes all about you, and show them how far the box traveled to get to them.

You can also visit the official Operation Christmas Child site, their Frequently Asked Questions page, or find out How to Pack a Box.

Here at Calvary Baptist Church, we will collect boxes through Sunday, November 15.  You can contribute by filling a box or by helping with the postage of $7.00 per box. Make checks payable to Samaritan’s Purse with Operation Christmas Child on the memo line.

Update:  We were able to exceed our goal of 60 boxes, and packed 71 shoe boxes, with enough shipping money for over 97 boxes.  Big thanks to all who had a part in this ministry!

In February 2010, we received an encouraging update from Samaritan's Purse:

Over 8.1 million shoe box gifts–the most ever–were collected this past holiday season, with the United States contributing 5.2 million of those gifts. Because of churches like yours, boys and girls around the world will now have the opportunity to hear the Good News of God’s greatest gift, Jesus Christ!

That’s what makes Operation Christmas Child unique. The gift does not stop with the shoe box itself. Children are introduced to Jesus through colorful Gospel booklets handed out during the distributions. Local churches invite them to a follow-up discipleship program that includes a series of engaging Bible lessons. Graduates receive a New Testament to encourage them to learn more about the Savior. As they grow in their faith, these same children become witnesses of God’s love in their communities.

One of these children was Oksana Nelson, a Russian girl who received a shoe box at her orphanage ten years ago. The box was the start of great blessings in her life, and today the teenager is passing on those blessings to other hurting kids through Operation Christmas Child. We hope Oksana’s video report will encourage your congregation to know that their gifts are making an impact, both now and for eternity.

Click on the image below to view the video report.

Remember to keep praying for the children and their families whose lives will be impacted this year through Operation Christmast Child. Pray especially that many hearts will be opened to God's love and the good news of Jesus Christ.