In October, Angie Whitley asked that we fill shoe boxes with items for children in third world countries who have very little and would be overjoyed to receive even a toothbrush or a box of crayons.  So, our mission was “Operation Christmas Child,” in conjunction with Samaritan’s Purse.  There were three different boy and girl age ranges from which to choose–2-4 years old, 5-9 years old, and 10-14 years old.  How fun it was to shop for items to fit into our shoe boxes.  We all purchased plastic shoe boxes with lids that snapped on.  These boxes can be used for carrying water or for storing items.   We tried to have one particularly special item included to really leave an impression, along with school items, gum, toothbrush and toothpaste, wash cloth, bar soap, Legos, pencils, crayons, etc.  The list goes on and on.  All in all we collected 18 boxes….not bad for our small congregation.  Angie then delivered the items to the specified drop location.

We found out later that our boxes were headed to a community in Ecuador.