The Operation Christmas Child (OCC) Item of the Month for December is prayer! We’ve been collecting items all through 2017, held our packing party, and served as an OCC drop-off location. Now comes the important part – prayer! Prayer is what is most needed. Please pray for the children receiving the shoeboxes. Pray that they come to know Christ as their savior and pray that they may grow and thrive in health, safety, and peace. Please pray also for volunteers, staff, and local organizations worldwide working with the kids and shoeboxes. We thank you for praying, especially this month as OCC is shipping out the shoeboxes!
December is also a time to shop…
Smart shoppers know that December is a great month to take advantage of the sales targeted to holiday shoppers. This is especially true if you are out shopping (in person or online) anyway! here are a wide variety of sale items appropriate for OCC shoeboxes:
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• Nativity related crafts and toys
• Small quality cars like Hot Wheels™ and Matchbox™.
• Small Lego sets
• T-shirts – Shirts without writing, are best, and these “basics” are often on sale at stores like Kohls and Target in December. Why do plain t-shirts work so well? English is not the primary language in many of the OCC countries, and kids may not even understand what is written on their shirts. There’s also a culture gap.
• Skirts, especially with elastic waistbands
• Hats
• Shoes – These are especially important because shoes help kids who have to walk long distances to get to school or to get water from a well.
• Socks – These are key…it gets cold at night even though the days are hot.
• Of course, WOW items, like a soccer ball with an air pump, are always needed!
Simply drop off your donations in the bin just outside of Fellowship Hall by the children’s ministries bulletin board. If you have any questions, please contact Trephina Bedell, tbedell@ilcp.org or 847-359-1549. More on information Operation Christmas Child can be found at Immanuelpalatine.org/operation-christmas-child.
Did you know that we’re collecting for Operation Christmas Child (OCC) 2018 Shoeboxes year-round?
We’re doing this to get ready for a great packing party in November 2018. Working year round gives us extra time to carefully choose special items for the shoebox. These shoeboxes really matter. An OCC shoebox might be the only gift a child ever receives.