What an amazing past year for Operation Christmas Child! By God’s grace, we saw record numbers at every level. Thanks to all of you who joined with us in this ministry of proclaiming God to children. I want to thank the OCC Committee for all their hard work last year (John and Debby Gardner, Mike and Cindy Dunlap, Linda Sartain, Mary Caudle, Fiona Wade, and Michelle Miller). If you are interested in joining the committee, just let one of us know. The 2023 totals of collected shoeboxes were:
- 705 From CPC itself
- 2,103 Brought to CPC during National Collection Week
- 18,000 From the “Scenic City”
- 10,051,570 The United States
- 11,330,012 Worldwide
Every shoebox is an opportunity to reach a child with the Gospel! Please pray for the leaders in over 100 countries as they present the Gospel to these children and lead many through the Greatest Journey discipleship lessons. Pray for the children to respond and give their lives to Jesus. What can YOU do in 2024 to participate in OCC?You are welcome to donate items throughout the year. A list of items to focus on will be in the newsletter and bulletin each month. We try to highlight items that typically will be on sale in specific months (e.g. stuffed animals after Valentine’s Day and Easter, school supplies in July, winter wear in March, etc.) All donations can be placed on the marked cart outside the Fellowship Hall.If you find a great sale, let us know through the CPC Women Facebook group, or let someone on the committee know. If you are a great bargain shopper, please use those skills to bless OCC. If you have “yellow credit” from McKay’s bookstore which you do not plan to use, please give it to Debby Gardner. She purchases lots of unused (new) coloring books from McKay’s for our Packing Parties to place in the 2-4 yr. old’s shoeboxes.You are also welcome to donate funds towards OCC at any time. Just mark your gift for OCC on the memo line or select “Other Giving” and then “OCC” when you give online. These monies are used to purchase bulk items at a discounted rate (e.g. flashlights, soccer balls, pumps, etc.) and to pay the shipping costs for the boxes created during our Packing Parties.You may choose to use CPC’s Build-a-Shoebox-Online webpage; for $25, you can build a box online at any time. That link is active and will be on the CPC home page from now until the end of November.We will be hosting some special OCC events this year: a Christmas in July event with a packing party, SHINE Camp girls making items for OCC boxes, our Prep Day in October, a Drop-off location for National Collection week (November 18-25), and CPC Packing Day in November. We are hoping to host some new events in 2024 - possibly a craft Saturday where everyone can make special crafts to include in shoeboxes, and perhaps a special production to promote OCC. If you have other ideas or would like to help with these events, please let me know. So many OCC opportunities are available for you in the year ahead. Consider how you can help to make a difference in the lives of children. Above all, continue to pray that God will do great things to bring more children, parents, villages, and nations to Himself.To God be the glory,Judy Foster for the OCC committee
