I am sure that most of you have heard of Samaritan’s Purse and maybe even participated in the Christmas season Christmas Shoeboxes that they organize every year. If you don’t, you should.
I have written another blog about Compassion Kids and just seeing these charities play out. The Christmas boxes is yet another one that I have seen the fruits of.
We arrived in Bucharest, Romania at the beginning of the month and were so excited to have internet, warm showers (to include a shower head), and BEDS! It is such a blessing to get a good night’s sleep. The first day at our new ministry at Casa Shalom we were called in to the kitchen and on the tables were shoe boxes wrapped in Christmas paper. At first we were really confused….
I thought these boxes were for the poor, I thought they were for the needy. To my surprise, they were for us.
12 boxes laid out on the table full of toothbrushes, toothpaste, shower soap, shampoo, razors, mittens, scarves, chocolate, treats, notebooks, calculators, pens, journals, etc.
I can’t even explain our gratitude and astonishment that such a simple gesture brought our teams. You would have thought that we had never received a Christmas gift before.
These boxes weren’t the ones that you have put together, these boxes were from Germany or Ireland and all I want to do is write the most heartfelt thank you note to the person that put my box together.
I am going to be honest, I was an advocate for the whole Christmas box idea and I have participated in the project within my church or sports team. I now have a new understanding of the impact that it is having around the world.
Throughout the week we delivered boxes to Romanian villages where there were generally 10 children living in a house that consists of 2 small rooms. The children did not care if the box was for a girl or boy. They didn’t care if the soap didn’t have the freshest scent. They didn’t care if the wrapping paper was a little torn, or if another kid got a cooler toy. They just held their boxes tight and waited patiently for us to tell them it was ok for them to open them. The majority of the children didn’t have any toys, they just play with things around the house or each other. I was definitely able to gain a better perspective of always being content in your circumstances, even if they are challenging. I love that I am learning from 3 year olds, this just shows that God does have a sense of humor.
