North Addison Baptist Church, Spokane, WA
Thursday, March 28, 2024
~ A Place Where Your Faith Can Grow!

Operation Christmas Child 2020

2016 was an exciting year in the life of NABC and our expanding partnership with Operation Christmas Child.  We concluded a successful week of collecting shoebox gifts from our area--a total of 295. Those were added to the grand total for the Inland Northwest, over 15,000 shoeboxes! We will continue to pray that these boxes will touch young lives and their families around the world.
 
In 2017, we collected a total of 444 shoebox gifts from northeastern Spokane. Throughout Eastern Washington, 14,768 boxes were collected and shipped to a central receiving point. From there, those shoebox gifts will travel around the world and into the hands of eager children. 
 
In 2018, we gathered for a packing party (Nov 4), where we put our gifts into shoeboxes, wrote letters to the boys and girls who'd get our gifts, and took photos of ourselves so the recipients could see who we were. Our church packed 64 boxes. The youngest packer was in preschool, and the oldest was 96. How amazing that such simple gifts can have such an impact--on us and on the recipients! As a Drop-off location, our church later received 631 shoeboxes from north Spokane, which we shipped away to a processing center. Of course this was a small part of the 15,208 boxes which the Denver processing center received from Eastern Washington.
 
In 2019, we asked members to add toys and other items monthly to our OCC collection bin, to prepare us for the packing party on November 10. When that day arrived, we had enough gifts to fill 82 shoeboxes! A week later, during Drop-off days, we received 1,008 additional shoeboxes from around this community. Thanks to help from many volunteers, we crated them and sent them to a church in Mead, where they joined other shoeboxes and were trucked to a processing center--a total of 15,693 boxes from the Inland Northwest! 
 
We repeat the process, starting in January 2020.
 
Here's our schedule for collections within our church:

January—toys

February—toothbrushes, floss, non-liquid lip balm, adhesive bandages without ointment

March—coloring books, small note pads

April—gifts for older kids, like flashlights, travel sewing kits, small tools, tape measure, playing cards

May—gifts for younger kids, like cars, trucks, boats, finger puppets  slinky toys, bean bags

June—summer gear, like flip flops, sunglasses, small water bottles, inflatable beach balls

July—school supplies, like pencils, pens, colored pencils, markers, scissors, watercolor paint and brush, stickers, pencil sharpeners, erasers (no crayons)

August—sports gear, like jump ropes, small balls soccer ball or football (deflated with pump), small

Frisbee disks

September—musical instruments, like harmonicas, whistles, shakers, drumsticks, recorders; money for shipping

October—socks for children and money for shipping (suggested donation is $9 per box)

 

        
 
Fast facts:
 
What is Operation Christmas Child?
A ministry of Samaritan’s Purse that shares the love of Jesus through a shoebox full of Christmas gifts.
 
How does NABC participate?
Each November our members of all ages attend a Packing Party, where we pack shoeboxes full of fun gifts that are delivered to children all over the world. Suggested items to pack can be found here.  
 
What does Samaritan’s purse do?
They partner with churches and missionaries in worldwide to share the love of Jesus. They use the boxes as outreach opportunities in their communities, and many new small groups/Bible studies and congregations are started this way. Follow up plans are specific and very thorough.
 
Who delivers the boxes?
While gathered and distributed throughout the world by OCC, the boxes are handed out by churches/missionaries local to each place.
 
Who receives a shoebox?
Boxes are provided to children ages 2 through 14. Most kids have opportunity to receive only one OCC box in their lifetime. OCC goes to an area once every seven years.
 
What happens after they receive a box?
Every child receiving a box is invited to attend a discipleship program, which teaches about the love of God and Jesus' sacrifice.