It's National Collection Week for Operation Christmas Child (November 18-25). Since I'm encouraging all of you to give a little, I thought I'd give one of you something too! How about a copy of
Operation Christmas Child: A Story of Simple Gifts by Franklin Graham.
(You can read about my family's involvement with Operation Christmas Child and how you can help
here.)
About the Book
It was a simple idea that became the worldwide ministry of
Operation Christmas Child—to minister to children in war-torn and
famine-stricken countries. In just two decades it has inspired everyday
people to provide more than 100 million gift-filled shoeboxes to needy
children in 130 countries. This beautiful book weaves the moving,
God-saturated story of the ministry’s beginning with the soul-stirring,
Christ exalting stories of lives that have been forever changed by a
simple shoebox.
Operation Christmas Child is
filled with full-color photos of children whose smiles help tell what
is a thoroughly hopeful story. Samaritan's Purse President Franklin
Graham provides insight as the incredible stories of life transformation
are told.
Proceeds from the book go to support the ministry it seeks to celebrate and honor.
Sneak Peek from the Book
In an excerpt from his new book, Operation Christmas Child: A Story of Simple Gifts,
Franklin Graham talks about the beginnings of what has become a
worldwide ministry that has delivered over 100 million shoeboxes to
children in over 130 countries.
BIG TROUBLE, BIG TASK, BIG THANKS
Days before Thanksgiving my secretary came through the door with a
look on her face that I knew very well. “Do you remember that man from
Britain that called you back in the summer asking for shoeboxes? He’s on
the phone asking when you’ll be sending them—he’s leaving for Bosnia
soon,” she stated with an air of “You’re in big trouble!” I had
forgotten about it and now the Christmas season was fast approaching.
I picked up the phone. “Mr. Graham, how many shoeboxes have you
collected?” I couldn’t let him down. His cause was worthy, so I said,
“David, we’re working on it; I’ll get back to you.” He was thrilled and I
was, well, in trouble.
“We’ve got to collect some shoeboxes—fast!” I said. We threw some
ideas around and then called Ross Rhoads, senior pastor of Calvary
Church in Charlotte, North Carolina. As always, Ross was glad to help
and said, “Tell me what to do.”
“Get a shoebox and fill it with some little toys for kids—maybe some
toothpaste and a toothbrush, a hair brush, and sock,” I suggested. “Take
it to the pulpit on Sunday and show your congregation. Ask if they will
help us collect shoebox gifts for the kids in Bosnia. And by the way,
tell them to put a note inside with their picture so the child will know
who the box is from—maybe some of the kids will write back.” Ross
enthusiastically agreed. Then I called Sean Campbell, our executive
director in Canada. “Sean, see what kind of response you can get from a
church up there.”
I hung up and forgot about it again, until a few days after
Thanksgiving. My secretary walked into my office and announced a call
from Ross with that “you’re in trouble” look on her face. “Ross needs to
talk to you.”
Picking up the phone, I heard his voice filled with troubled
excitement. “Franklin, you’ve got to send someone down here to pick up
all of these shoeboxes!”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Well, we’ve got shoeboxes stacked up in the gym, in the foyer, and in Sunday school rooms—they’re in the way.”
“So you’ve really been able to collect a few hundred boxes?” I asked.
“A few hundred?” Ross answered. “How about eleven thousand!” I was
stunned. Ross had a big church, but eleven thousand in two weeks? He
said, “Franklin, this is obviously something the Lord has blessed.”
Reflecting years later, Ross said, “All I did that Sunday morning was
to show the congregation a shoebox Carol had packed and asked them to
do the same. That afternoon, a member of the church with the Bible
Broadcast Network (BBN) interviewed me and gave me the chance to tell
about the project. We did not solicit for boxes nor was the church
address given. Over the next several days, however, people began
bringing shoeboxes to the church and deliveries were made daily by the
post office and courier services. The church was known for ‘sending
help,’ but ‘receiving’ was not something we were set up for.”
I said a great big thank you to Ross and then placed a call to David
and reported the big news. Immediately, I sent my projects director (now
vice president of projects and government relations) Kenney Isaacs to
Charlotte to assess the situation. He called and said, “Franklin, you’re
not going to believe this. People are really excited!”
This response was so overwhelming that Ross suggested I come on Sunday, December 12, to preach and thank the congregation.
HYPHENATED BY THE TURN OF THE CENTURY
That was twenty years ago. Two decades have passed—hyphenated by the
turn of the century. Not every generation experiences living from one
millennium to another. We have now surpassed that milestone and have
come into the second decade of the twenty-first century, marking one
hundred million shoebox gifts collected and delivered, representing an
even larger number who have heard God’s message. When I look back on
this project—Operation Christmas Child (OCC)—I think of the Scripture
that says, “Oh, what God has done!” (Num. 23:23)
The Lord has blessed this outreach in numbers—monumental numbers. But
more important, He has blessed it by changing hearts, one at a time.
And in the twentieth year of Operation Christmas Child, we delivered the
one hundred millionth shoebox!
There are miles of smiles that tell stories about changed lives, miles of oceans away. But it all started with:
One phone call
One request
One shoebox
One church
And one message about the Christmas Child
For one heart at a time
We pray that the heartbeat of the Gospel will stir the hearts of hundreds of millions more.
Come with us on this journey as we tell you about one profound truth that changes one life at a time.
Giveaway
Enter to win a copy of Operation Christmas Child: A Story of Simple Gifts by Franklin Graham. Giveaway open to US residents and ends December 14. Enter using the Rafflecopter widget below.
*** All participants must be 18 years or older. The winner will be contacted
via email. Once contacted the winner has 72 hours to respond with the
required information. If the winner does not respond within the
timeframe specified, another winner will be chosen. I am not responsible
for shipping mishaps. Void where prohibited. ***
The world is on fire. From the ashes like a phoenix rises a new America,
one that will save it all. Under one condition; absolute and complete
surrender.
The world complies without question. Those who don’t are destroyed. It
is in this world, John is born. His very name is treason.
If the New America, now known to everyone as the State, knew what John
was, they’d kill him, but instead they give him a gift.
Scott Powell was born in Burlington, Vermont, to a father who was a police officer and a mother who emigrated from South Korea. He received a degree in marketing from the University of Las Vegas, Nevada, and a master's degree from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Scott served a two-year Spanish-speaking mission for his church. He is a mixed martial artist who continues to train with his father, a second-degree black belt in Tae kwon do and a kick boxer.
Besides being married to Scott for over seventeen years, Judith Powell is a stay-at-home mom whose whole life has been full of stories. Being raised by an Irish storytelling father and a Native American mother, stories have filled her life and her head until they finally had no choice but to flow out through her fingertips. 
