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Finding joy and love in a simple shoebox

by

David Morrison

It’s time to pack gifts for Operation Christmas Child

Teaching our kids generosity often takes the spotlight as the holidays approach, and many parents search for ways to teach such lessons not only during this season but all through the year. Local mom Julie Hamilton treasures her experiences teaching her son generosity by packing gift-filled shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child.

Operation Christmas Child, a project of Samaritan’s Purse, collects shoeboxes filled with toys, school supplies and hygiene items to demonstrate God’s love in a tangible way to children in need around the world. Since the project began in 1993, it has distributed more than 186 million gift-filled shoeboxes to more than 160 nations and territories around the world.

Hamilton and her 8-year-old son, Henry, first began packing these gifts for children several years ago when he was quite young. Over the years they have increased both the number of boxes they pack and their overall involvement in the ministry.

“I have felt a great passion from God to teach [Henry] to love children,” Hamilton says.

In addition to packing boxes themselves, their church, Connection Point Church in Raytown, partners with OCC. The mother-and-son team volunteers with the church-wide shoebox packing effort, as well as the church’s service as a drop-off location during National Collection Week each November (this year Nov. 15-22).

The two have even been known to create and post videos of themselves at stores shopping for shoebox items. They have fun creating these tutorials showing others how to pack a box. Henry has also been known to wear a shoebox costume and greet people as they come to drop off their boxes at their church during collection week.

“I have seen Henry inspire other people by just being there,” Hamilton says. “This is one step of many in our lives that God has put us in contact with to follow Jesus and tell other children about Him.”

A changed life

Through their efforts, Hamilton and Henry have learned that each gift packed represents a child who will be shown love, and one of these children was Vladimir Prokhnevskiy from the Ukraine. He grew up in a family of nine children and didn’t receive gifts, as his family lived amidst poverty and persecution. As a result, he and his siblings often had to use their imaginations to come up with objects they could play with as toys. At times, they even pretended their shoes were cars.

This all changed once he received his box at the age of 9. He and his siblings rode a bus and tram to the church doing the distribution, and not only did he receive his first-ever gift, but it was his first time to receive school supplies.

“When I received my shoebox, I had my own pen and paper from another country that were so colorful and beautiful,” he says.

Receiving his own school supplies was especially exciting as his teacher would often ridicule both him and his twin brother for not having the needed pen and paper for class. She would do so because the brothers didn’t want to admit they couldn’t afford basic supplies, so they always said they forgot them.

Vladimir also enjoyed the toys, toothbrush and dental floss that were included in the box. He reveled in ownership of his very own toothbrush, and he even learned how to use the floss.

Overall, he says receiving the box was a demonstration to him of an act of unconditional love. In his culture, people would typically expect something in return if they gave a gift, but this gift came with no strings attached. He says it allowed him and his siblings to forget all their challenges and just feel loved.

“It’s the simplest act of kindness,” Vladimir says. “Unconditional love is contagious. It spreads like wildfire.”

He says the box was a seed of love planted in his heart because someone took the time to demonstrate love in a physical, tangible way.

Today, Vladimir lives in the United States and frequently shares his story to inspire others to pack boxes. Through her experiences in packing boxes, Hamilton says she has learned she doesn’t have to do everything herself, and she has found great joy in helping others see how they can get involved from home here in Kansas City to impact children all over the world.

Shoebox Packing 101

Want to pack a shoebox but not sure how to get started? Here’s a step-by-step guide.

Allison Gibeson is a local writer who loves packing Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes with her husband and son.

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