While I watch the videos, pictures of children around the world parade across the screen: an orphanage filled with children in tattered winter clothes. A village somewhere in Africa where boys and girls flash beautiful, broad smiles at the camera. A church floor somewhere in Latin America where a little girl with sad eyes holds her box as her most prized possession.

No – certainly not all orphans on the screen have Elena, Irinia and Ted’s happy ending. Yes – most children in the African village go back to a life of poverty. But as they hold the toy-filled shoe boxes, their sorrow pauses, if only for a moment, as their hearts grasp this message, loud and clear: “Somewhere, out there, someone cares about me.”

I’ve been writing columns about Operation Christmas Child for the past five years right before collection week. As an ambassador for this organization, I have had the privilege to hear countless stories, as well as meet adults who were once recipients of one of the boxes delivered across the globe. Each story shares a common thread: A simple shoe box brought new hope to a child’s heart.

This is the season when our children fill their Christmas list with toys and gadgets, which often end up at the bottom of a closet within a month or two. It’s the season for companies to spend millions of dollars in advertisements, designed to entice our cravings for more and better. Indeed, consumerism can easily turn our hearts from the true meaning of the season.

Several years ago, however, my husband and I made the decision to use the holiday season as an opportunity to teach our children about the joy of giving. We receive the Samaritan’s Purse catalog, which contains the wonderful projects sponsored by this organization across the globe. From purchasing a chick to help feed a family, to raising funds to build wells in places where drinkable water is a rare commodity, the catalog offers various opportunities to help people in need.

On an account in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus had left the temple in Jerusalem with his disciples, when he started teaching through parables, as he often did. In one of them, he talked about separating the sheep from the goats, in a reference to differentiate those who are truly his followers. He then used words that puzzled his disciples: “I was hungry and you gave me to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came visit me.”

The disciples were confused, for they did not remember helping the master in any such instance. Jesus then explained: “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”

What a challenge to those of us who boldly claim to love God! His words remind me that self-gratifying religion is no religion at all. At this age of entitlement, when children complain when they don’t have the latest smart phone, or throw a tantrum when they don’t get what they want when they want it, caring and giving to those in need can become the perfect antidote to a self-centered society.

May we heed Jesus’ words as we draw near the time to celebrate his birth, for giving to the “least of these” is giving him the perfect birthday gift.

You can find out more about Operation Christmas Child and other projects at www.samaritanspurse.org. Shoe box collection week starts this Monday, Nov. 13.

This article was originally published in Patricia’s column for The Atlanta Journal Constitution on Saturday – November 11, 2017.

Whatever you do for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of Mine, you do for Me.
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My family and I have been packing shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child for a decade. Since our oldest was a little toddler, the Christmas shoe boxes have become a holiday tradition at our house. Sometime in October, I take our girls shopping for children around their age, and we pack the boxes with toys and some essential items like toothbrushes, toothpaste and hair brushes. I watch them pack them, their eyes sparkling with excitement. As we close the boxes, we pray for the children who will receive them, and include a letter with our address and pictures, just in case they decide to write to us one day. At a time when our society tries to shift our attention from the true meaning of Christmas, I find it important to point my children’s hearts to the truth: We give, because God gave himself for us. We celebrate, because love came down and brought us true hope. And we wish to share it with the world.

There are several organizations offering special projects during the holidays, but there is a very specific reason why I wholeheartedly support Samaritan’s Purse’s Operation Christmas Child. This group doesn’t end their operation with the delivery of Christmas gifts to children. They stay. They have programs following their shoe box deliveries, where they share about Jesus and the love of God with the children and their families. Their projects include, among others, disaster relief and adoption support programs, and I have been privileged to hear several stories of children from all over the world who were adopted by American families following the delivery of a shoe box. It’s one small, inexpensive gesture that has been changing people’s lives and eternity for decades, by sharing God’s love and the hope that remains.  That’s the intangible, however true gift, packed inside that small box.

The contents of those shoe boxes, as exciting as they may be, will perish, break, or empty out over time. But the message within remains forever: there is a God who sees your pain and suffering. He hasn’t forgotten you. And he put in the hearts of millions of Americans the desire to send you a little bit of love packed inside one small shoe box.

The world is indeed filled with hatred, wars and persecution. But it fills my heart with hope for tomorrow when I think that God’s love still shines through the good deeds of mankind. Join the Operation Christmas Child movement by going to www.samaritanspurse.org and find out how you can get involved.

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