Since 2001, the Wesley Foundation, First Baptist Church of Oxford and other local ministries have been making a collaborative effort in the gift of giving with Operation Christmas Child.
OCC, which was established 24 years ago by Rev. Billy Graham’s Samaritan’s Purse ministry, is a nonprofit that will reach 12 million less fortunate children in more than 100 countries this holiday season. Each kid will receive a shoebox filled with items such as clothing, toiletries, toys, school supplies, and pictures or personal notes from the donor, often with words of encouragement or Bible verses etched onto them.
Oxford has seen the popularity of and involvement with the cause grow notably in the past three years. Just this year in Oxford, there were 6,141 boxes submitted to local drop-off locations.“We’re not able to travel overseas as missionaries, but we can be missionaries by filling these boxes,” said Mae Stone, who has been the Relay Center Coordinator of North Mississippi for OCC since the beginning.
Stone belongs to a nondenominational house church, where there is no space to collect shoeboxes. Instead, she has used various locations as drop-off sites, including the Wesley Foundation and First Baptist Church in Oxford.
She emphasized the help and encouragement she’s received, noting that at the Wesley Foundation alone, she had over 25 volunteers, who ranged from teens to retirees, dedicating their time to the cause.
Rev. Eddie Willis, the campus minister at the Wesley Foundation, said he and those around him have been honored to experience the blessing of working for such a powerful cause.
“It not only helps the community come together, but it also is helping children around the world with gifts at Christmas. This is also a great way for the people of Oxford to know a little bit more about the Wesley Foundation,” said Willis.
The Wesley Foundation alone collected 3,797 boxes.
Beth McCullen works as the project leader for OCC at First Baptist Church, where over 1,000 boxes were donated.
“Oxford and surrounding areas have embraced OCC in a huge way and collectively sent almost 18,000 shoeboxes to Atlanta to be processed this year,” McCullen said.
The cause runs deeper than a church donation for McCullen and her family, as her daughter went to the Philippines to distribute shoeboxes and even worked at the Samaritan’s Purse headquarters in North Carolina.
McCullen believes participation in Operation Christmas Child brings its own spiritual rewards. “My favorite thing about OCC is that ‘salvation is possible on both ends of the box,’” she said, using a quote associated with the project.
Since National Collection Week, which took place last week, Stone has been at the OCC Processing Center in Atlanta, inspecting the 1.6 million shoeboxes that have been transported in before they start their journey to children in areas of poverty, war and disasters around the world.
Stone has experienced many heartfelt responses to her efforts, but she found one instance particularly moving.
“One time I received a letter from a young boy addressed to ‘Dear Aunt Mae,’ and it was the most touching experience,” Stone said. “It’s not about what goes into the box, but what comes out: the eternal gift of Jesus Christ.”
This theme of Christian love is taught to—and well-received by—kids around the world.“It’s easier for us to tell children that God loves them because they’ve already seen the love, practically, in a shoebox,” said Mutambo Phillip, a Zambian pastor who has witnessed how OCC has benefited members of his own congregation.
If you want to donate a shoebox but missed National Collection Week, it isn’t too late. For $25, Samaritan’s Purse will pack and send a shoebox for you. They are also encouraging donors to buy an OCC gift card for friends so that they, too, can build a shoebox online themselves.
For more information, visit samaritanspurse.org.
Olivia Wells is a freelance writer based in Oxford.
