The power of a shoebox

13 x 8 x 5 inches.

Those are the average dimensions of a standard shoebox. Yes, some are larger; some are smaller.

But in general, a shoebox measures approximately 13 inches long, 8 inches wide, and 5 inches deep.

Typically, a shoebox carries exactly what it was designed to hold – shoes. But sometimes, a simple shoebox can become the powerful conduit of God’s love, especially if that shoebox is part of Operation Christmas Child (OCC).

Packed with power

OCC, a ministry project of Samaritan’s Purse (SP), partners with local churches to share the gospel and make disciples of the nations. To accomplish this mission, OCC tangibly demonstrates God’s love to needy children through Christmas gifts packed in a shoebox.

The recipients of OCC shoeboxes are also presented the gospel through “The Greatest Journey,” a 12-week discipleship Bible course taught by a trained local teacher. When children around the world complete the course, they earn a graduation certificate and are given a New Testament in their own language.

But the annual shoeboxes are impossible without thousands of OCC volunteers who pack those oblong containers with Christmas gifts for children ages 2 to 14. Since 1993, more than 232 million children in over 170 countries and territories have received a shoebox.

Wrapped in prayer

At times, those OCC packages have carried more than needful items or wished-for trinkets. At times, miracles have been packed in those shoeboxes – specific answers to powerful, heartfelt prayers.

The online stories of OCC shoebox miracles are plentiful. Some involved a real need, such as a perfectly sized pair of shoes, a toothbrush, a comb or brush, mittens, or matching socks. But other miracle boxes contained gifts for the heart … unvoiced dreams fulfilled with the lifting of a shoebox lid: an entire box of crayons, a soccer ball and pump, a beautiful doll, or something more impossible to pray for or even imagine.

Our family witnessed the power of one such childhood prayer during our annual packing of an OCC shoebox. That year, our youngest son, Chris, sacrificially gave his greatest earthly treasure (a baseball hat signed by his Major League Baseball hero Ken Griffey Jr.) to a child we will probably never meet on this side of heaven.

With tears in his eyes, Chris placed his autographed Seattle Mariners hat into the OCC shoebox and emphatically told his father, his brother Jacob, and me, “God said this boy loves Ken Griffey Jr. too … just like me.”

Later that night, I slipped out of bed to take the baseball hat out of the box, put it up, and keep it until Chris was older.

“No, Joy, you can’t do that,” said my quiet, stoic husband, Randy. “We have to trust that Chris heard from God. Who knows? This gift may lead that little boy to Christ. And Chris’ obedience may bless him more than we will ever know. Leave the hat in the box!”

So, I did. But I never stopped praying for that unknown child, and I never stopped imagining his joy upon opening Chris’ shoebox gift – or the joy of the other children through the years who received our family’s annual OCC shoeboxes.

Ready to receive

My imagination became reality this past March.

As a representative of American Family Association and The Stand, I was invited to join a four-day OCC Partner Vision Trip to the Dominican Republic. There, I joined dozens of people from various ministries and businesses who have consistently partnered with SP to carry the gospel to children around the world.

From start to finish, the adventure was a well-planned and purposeful journey, packed full of God’s power – much like the shoeboxes we delivered to Dominican children in villages surrounding the nation’s capital city of Santo Domingo.

On the first morning of our vision trip, all attendees were divided into 10-member teams with each group assigned two communities to visit daily. One visit involved delivery of those boxes into the hands of actual children. The other visit included the presentation of “The Greatest Journey” to a classroom full of eager learners.

Both visits were life-changing – for the children and for us.

My OCC team was made up of women and men of all ages from a wide array of businesses and ministries, large and small, that contributed to the journey of those shoeboxes. But none of us were ready for what we witnessed as we entered the small church sanctuary for our first visit.

It was pure joy to physically place some unknown person’s packed OCC shoebox into the hands of a child who had no idea that a gift was even part of the day’s activities. The surprise, gratitude, and immediate enjoyment of the gifts in that box were almost palpable.

It was more joyful than we ever imagined to simply sit down on the floor and play cars or dolls with a beautiful child we had never met before. The shoebox was a powerful, physical demonstration of God’s love to that child.

Ready to share

Our afternoon trip to another small village involved a different, eternity-changing demonstration of that love.

As a retired school teacher, this was the most amazing part of my journey. I watched in awe as volunteer teachers from the public schools in the local village taught “The Greatest Journey” with more creativity and expertise than I had ever seen.

We later learned from those teachers that the power of the shoebox was almost indefinable.

By the time the students graduate and receive a certificate of completion for “The Greatest Journey,” they have usually shared the gospel with around 10 members of their family – 10 more souls introduced to Jesus through the powerful journey of an OCC shoebox.

Afterward, a member of the ministry’s national leadership team joined us on our ride back to the hotel and shared the history of OCC shoeboxes in the Dominican Republic.

“Since the first OCC shoeboxes were delivered here in 1999,” he explained, “over 3 million children in the Dominican Republic have received a shoebox gift and heard the good news of Jesus Christ.”

He then solemnly voiced a statement I heard repeatedly during our vision trip: “One child; one gift; one eternal life.”

On that day and often since then, I attempted to apply this statement to the statistics he shared with us. Talk about the greatest journey ever: 3 million children; 3 million gifts; 3 million eternal lives.

And that is the real power behind every OCC shoebox.

So, pack those gifts, pray over them, and send them out, knowing that somewhere in this world, one more child – and 10 more family members – might come to know the love of our Savior, Jesus Christ … through one simple shoebox.