One of the many benefits of going to Christian conferences is the chance to meet new people and learn more about other groups.
I was delighted to meet Bob and his team from Operation Christmas Child (poster pictured below) next to our European Christian Mission stand at the Gorsley Festival over the August Bank Holiday weekend.
My wife Jan has been a supporter for a few years and has already started filling her shoeboxes with presents to send to children overseas this Christmas.
However, I was amazed when Bob and his team told me that Operation Christmas Child, which has been going for 21 years, is the world’s largest children’s Christmas appeal.
Last year they sent 1.2 million shoeboxes from the UK to children to 18 countries across Africa, Central Asia and Eastern Europe.
I was delighted to see that Operation Christmas Child, through its USA and Germany offices, has been sending shoeboxes to Albania since 1995.
In 2010 America sent 21,330 shoeboxes to Albania and Germany dispatched 14,960, while this year the US is projected to send 21,345 shoeboxes and the number from Germany is not yet known.
Although the charity in Britain does not send to Albania it does distribute to Albanians living in Kosova and Montenegro and this year’s projected numbers for shoeboxes are 31,200 to Kosova and 20,800 to Montenegro.
What was most moving was to hear that the demand is so great that a child will probably receive only one shoebox during their childhood.
I was so impressed I picked up some shoeboxes and I have already started to fill them.
Operation Christmas Child (OCC) is an initiative of Samaritan’s Purse, a Christian relief and development charity. To find out more go to http://www.samaritans-purse.org.uk/
No comments:
Post a Comment