Shoe Box Assembly Line

On Thursday Kristy, Sarah, and I traded our desk jobs for the assembly line at the Operation Christmas Child distribution center in Atlanta, Georgia. I discovered they had a new system in place in the two years since I had been a volunteer. And boy, did it work!

 

 

Another volunteer, Linda, joined our group and we began our search mission for inappropriate items and taping the completed boxes.

 

What fun it was to look around at the myriad of volunteers. I spied young and old with all sorts of in-between ages. And the folks who couldn’t stand on the concrete warehouse floors sat at tables placing hard candies into sandwich bags as shoebox filler. We’d stop every hour or so for collective prayer and some stories about some of the shoebox recipients. I love serving Jesus in ways like this.

 

              

 

It was no surprise to me when the Atlanta distribution site manager met us and expressed his gratitude for the many WMU groups who participate in missions through Operation Christmas Child. But it was a surprise to me when we discovered "Molly" was at the distribution center brought there by a devoted Mission Friends leader who was volunteering. We paused and had a picture made with her.

 

I know the importance of these boxes. My husband and I distributed them to needy families in our neighborhood in Latvia. The shoeboxes were an entry point to tell these families about the best gift of all—Jesus.

 

Maybe you'd like to volunteer at a distribution site next year. You'll work hard but leave blessed.