Samaritan's purse: Operation Christmas Child

Today I volunteered at Samaritan's purse which is a Christian organization.

I managed to bring some of the youth along with me to help pack shoe boxes full of gifts for a charity program called Operation Christmas Child. It is a humongous humanitarian organization which has a branch in Australia, and today we were able to go to the warehouse and help process the shoe boxes. 

Once the shoe boxes are checked, they are sent overseas to third world countries and each shoe box is distributed to a child in need. 

The previous day I hung out with Mabelle and Joy in the city. We decided to fill a shoe box together for a little girl aged 5-9. Honestly it was a lot of fun picking out gifts!! Together we raided Daiso with a mission to find:
1. Something to love

2. Something for hygiene

3. Something for school

4. Something special

5. Something to play with

6. Something to wear

We ended up spending about $10 each, and I pray and hope our shoe box goes to a little girl in need. 

Here are some things we packed:

Coloured notepad for school

Funny eraser for school

Coloured pens for something to love

A towel for hygiene

A headband to wear

A pencil case for school

 We also packed some bouncy balls for something to play with and some toys, and a small bag.
There were some things we had to avoid, like no liquids and breakable items, no gambling material, no food, no toys that resemble weapons, etc. 

Anyway, we got to the warehouse before 9.30am for training. They taught us how to process the shoe boxes and what to remove. For example, we are not allowed to send any objects with skulls on them as it represents death in some countries. The kids think we are sending them a death notice if we do that, so it's a big no-no. The other thing we found out was that we aren't allowed to send any religious items, as the countries we send them to strictly ban it. It crushed me on the inside to throw some of the written letters away just because they included a message about Jesus.
Jesus is the very reason and motivation for doing charity work, and yet I had to deny this. I just pray and hope that one day the children who receive these shoe boxes will understand it's God's love that is behind it. 

This was our workstation. We were processing shoe boxes for Girls 10-14 today. 

The team!

The first few shoe boxes were slow and difficult to process because I didn't know what they expected. The very first box I checked was rejected because it wasn't full enough! While we check what's inside each box, we also must fill them to the brim with "fillers" provided at the warehouse. Each box must be literally popping open before being tapped down and stored. 

I was surprised that even the outside of some boxes were decorated so nicely. 

We had challenge items during the day, which were items that seemed too big to fit into any shoe box. It was good fun >:] 

Joy was organizing this chalk. We were told that they have no concrete to draw on, so there were chalkboards available too. Everything was well thought out :)

Bel found this awesome transparent toy car which flashed bright colours when the wheels were rolled. I think it was really fun looking through all the shoe boxes. Some people really put in some awesome gifts and toys!!

At morning tea the leader read out a devotion which was really heart warming. I can't remember exactly what it was, but it calmed me because this week I had 4 interviews for my internship. 

For lunch the team headed out to the local shops. Zack and I returned just in time to see the carrier being filled. It was an exciting time, we were told that our boxes would be sent to kids in Cambodia. Everyone prayed that the boxes would be safely delivered and that the gifts will meet the needs of the kids that receive them. 

There are many countries that the shoe boxes are sent out to, and I learnt that they are never sent to the same place twice (which has it's positive and negatives). 

These guys came back with fish and chips and after lunch there wasn't anything to do so we left. That afternoon I had an interview in the city so I rushed back with Joy. 

The parable of the Good Samaritan is found in Luke 10: 25-37. 

In summary it is about an injured man who was robbed and left along a roadside to die. A priest and Levite, the most "religious" people of the time passed by him immediately, and only a Samaritan man nursed the injured man and brought him into town to pay for his expenses. In those days a Samaritan was considered unholy and the Jews avoided them. Yet Jesus praised the Samaritan and said he was a real neighbour for showing mercy to the injured. He used the Samaritan as an example of how we should unconditionally care and love people. 

Being a Christian is not about being arrogant and fostering a "holier than thou" attitude, rather it's about showing God's love to people who need it the most. 

I'm only beginning to understand what it means to give my best for others. I am super frugal and ungenerous with my money, but I wish to change that. Somebody said something to me the other day and it was, "We need to have open hands in order to receive things, so holding on to what we have too tightly doesn't allow God to bless us with more. He will only give us more if we are willing to give more."  

I always know in my mind that material possessions are meaningless, yet I continue to hold onto them so tightly. I want to cultivate an attitude of giving without thinking to those who need it most.
I must set my affections on things above and not on things on the earth. (Colossians 3:2) for greater are the rewards in heaven than on earth where moth and dust corrupt and robbers steal.