Operation Christmas Child appeal each Christmas time, has a special place in my heart and in our household. You may also know it as 'the shoebox appeal'.
A few years ago during one of my visits to Uganda, one of the older boys (9years old-ish) was walking around wearing gloves. Proper woolly gloves for winter. I was really confused as to why he had them on all. the. time? They were black in colour and had the grips on the palms. He was so proud of them. In the hot Ugandan sun, during a trip to the pool that we had fundraised for, he still walked around wearing his gloves. I took the opportunity to go sit with him at one point in the day and ask about his gloves. As I asked his face lit up. He beamed with joy. He was so so so happy. Then he explained......
'They were in my box Auntie. I had lots of gifts in my box but these are my favourite. They are like footbool goalie gloves and this part (pointing to the grips) help me with my football skills. Now all the boys say I am the best goalie. I love them and the boxes. I hope I get one next year Auntie. They bless us so much.'
Such a small gift from our part and yet it meant so much to this young boy who had very few posessions in life. For him, the arrival of this box meant that someone, somewhere, cared. They cared enough to lovingly pack this box and put in, along with other things, those very special 'football' gloves.
This year, we were able to take part in operation Christmas child again. Lutaaya loves packing the boxes as she knows that very possibly, her friends back in Uganda will be receiving them. She took so much time and effort in picking out the gifts to fill the boxes and them put them all together.
We spent an evening packing our boxes. We decided on one for a boy and one for a girl. We love picking out things for the older age catergory as we know all too well, that they are the children often overlooked and forgotten about, when babies and toddlers steal the limelight.
So if you are looking for a special thing to do this year, I would encourage you to also support Operation Christmas child. All you need is a shoebox then fill it with gifts that a child would appreciate this Christmas. You can find out all the details here and then get packing. If you're local to me, give me a shout and we can tell you where to get your box too as many local schools are collecting for the next few weeks.
What are you waiting for? You can put a smile on a vulnerable child's face this Christmas!
