GOLDEN SHORES, Ariz. – A group of happy, cheerful volunteers, including a family from Kansas visiting relatives in Golden Shores, met at the Golden Shores Community Baptist Church Monday, Oct. 5, to pack shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child (OCC), part of Samaritan’s Purse.
“These boxes go into 175 different countries and 120 different languages,” said Karen Gardner, Drop Off Coordinator.
“I do this because it’s a way for me to be a missionary. The Bible says in Matthew 28:19 to go into all the world and make disciples. This lets me do that.”
She said that when the boxes go into the countries, missionaries are there to lead anyone to Christ who may want to do so. A booklet is included in the shoe boxes, The Greatest Gift, written in their language.
“If they want to, they can sign up to take a 12-lesson program to learn how to follow Christ,” Gardner said.
She told a real-life story about the shoe boxes going into Ukraine during bombings there.
“There were 12 children who had just lost their parents hiding in a basement with a pastor, and there comes a shoe box filled with love. OCC gave them all shoe boxes.”
She said many of the shoe boxes are personalized with notes that say, ‘I love you,’ I’m thinking of you,’ or sometimes there’s a picture of the person who packed it.”
Other items packed in the shoe boxes are school supplies, hygiene items, toys, clothes, and a wow item like a ball or stuffed animal, Gardner said.
A family from Kansas even volunteered with relatives they were visiting in Golden Shores because the six-year-old daughter, J.J. “Squishey” Knickerbocker wanted to.
Monday, the Golden Shores Community Baptist Church packed 107 boxes. From the church, Gardner said they would go to Kingman, loaded into an 18-wheeler taking them to the Collection Center in Fullerton, CA. From there, they will be shipped out around the world.
Gardner said the entire area of Needles, Mohave Valley, Fort Mohave, Golden Shores and Yucca hope to send 500 to 600 shoe boxes to Operation Christmas Child this year.
For more information on how to donate toward the project or where to drop off donations, call Karen Gardner at 928-278-9163.
