Church Honored for Samaritan’s Purse Partnership
(L-R) Linda King, Nancy Dennis, Pastor Dennis Humphreys, Debbie Hatten, Pastor Brandon Hall, Barbara Lanctot, Jack Hatten, Bess Hewitt, and Lynn Bush. (Photo provided by Toni Frederick)
Calvary Baptist Church was recently honored for 15 years of partnership as a Drop-Off Location for Operation Christmas Child (OCC), a non-denominational ministry of Samaritan’s Purse. Members of the OCC South Central Ohio Area Team were on hand for the celebration.
During the past 15 years, Calvary has received more than 19,000 filled shoebox gifts from churches, organizations, families, and individuals in Clinton County. Every year during the third week of November, Calvary Baptist Church opens its doors to Operation Christmas Child for National Collection Week. The foyer is transformed into a mini-processing center where the shoeboxes are counted, packed in cartons, and most importantly, prayed over with Operation Christmas Child volunteers. “Every church should participate in OCC”, said Dennis Humphreys, Senior Pastor of Calvary. “Not only are you providing children with a shoebox gift, you are providing them with the Gospel.” Pastor Brandon Hall, Associate Pastor of Calvary, added, “OCC is one of the easiest ways to spread the Gospel to other nations. Not only does the shoebox impact that one person but it spreads beyond.”
“It's churches like Calvary that help make this project such a success by making it more convenient for participants to drop off their filled shoebox gifts locally. Thank you for spreading the good news, great joy of Jesus Christ to children around the world through your simple shoebox gifts!” said Barbara Lanctot, Area Coordinator for the Operation Christmas Child South Central Ohio area team.
Operation Christmas Child is a project of Samaritan’s Purse, an international Christian relief and evangelism organization headed by Franklin Graham. The mission of Operation Christmas Child is to demonstrate God’s love in a tangible way to children in need around the world, and together with the local church worldwide, to share the Good News of Jesus Christ. Since 1993, Operation Christmas Child has collected and delivered more than 146 million gift-filled shoeboxes to children in more than 150 countries and territories. For many of these children, the gift-filled shoebox is the first gift they have ever received. In addition to the shoebox gift, the children receive “The Greatest Gift” booklet introducing them to Jesus Christ. They are also invited to attend “The Greatest Journey,” a 12-lesson discipleship program. All of these materials are in the child’s native language. For more information about Operation Christmas Child, you can go online to samaritanspurse.org or contact Barbara at 937-218-1964 to book an OCC presentation at your church or school.
