Christmas is, without question, the most enjoyable and beautiful time of year. The beauty of the Christmas season does not just come from the show-stopping, awe-inspiring lighting displays. It also comes from how people tend to treat one another during the Christmas season. Individuals exhibit more kindness, love, and generosity, showing others more compassion, grace, and patience.
The students, staff, and administrators of the Pacific Southwest District of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod in Irvine, California, have been packing shoeboxes for children worldwide for over 20 years. To the district’s teachers and administrators, Operation Christmas Child is an excellent opportunity for them to show those in need Christ’s love.
“It’s just such an easy way to share Jesus’s love with people all around the world,” Ashley Klitzing, a teacher, said.
“There’s just something so tangible about a student giving back,” Sally Brink, a teacher, said.
The effort has grown so large and become so important at the school that the system dedicates one entire school day to packing the shoeboxes.
The school’s students are fully aware of the impact their kind and loving efforts are having on those in need worldwide.
“It brings our community together. It brings our school together,” Ashley, a student, said. “The impact that it has, the impact that it has had, and the impact that it will have in the future is just so great. And it’s amazing that we get to be a part of that.”
According to Samaritan’s Purse, “Operation Christmas Child delivers great joy and the Good News of Jesus Christ to children in need around the world through gift-filled shoeboxes.”
Volunteers stuff shoeboxes with toys, much-needed personal care items, and school supplies, which are then sent to children around the world.
For more information and how to get involved in Operation Christmas Child, click here.
1 Corinthians 16:14: “Let all you do be done in love.”
This content originally appeared on GodTube.com; used with permission.
Photo Credit: ©YouTube/Samaritan's Purse
