New Holland’s Garden Spot Village residents and volunteers gathered in the Village Chapel Oct. 21 for a packing party of 100 shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child.
The goal was to fill 100 boxes toward the expected 34,700 shoebox gifts to be collected from Lancaster, York and Lebanon area residents this year. Another 100 boxes were being packed by independent residents of the village in their apartments and homes.
Operation Christmas Child, a project of Samaritan’s Purse, is an international Christian relief and evangelism organization headed by Franklin Graham. Since 1993, they have delivered gift-filled shoeboxes to more than 113 million children in more than 100 countries. In 2014, their goal is to collect enough shoebox gifts to reach another 10 million children.
What a goal and excitement for these residents. Live harp and flute music played by a brother and sister team Henry and Emily from Servants Stage Company drifted through the chapel enhanced by walls covered with international flags representing the gospel story of ‘preach to all nations.’
The event was spearheaded by area team coordinators Dan and Kim Blank for Samaritan’s Purse and Garden Spots Director of Life Enrichment Coleen Musselman.
The morning started with a prayer offered by Pastor Dan Blank. Volunteers and residents touched the individual boxes with his prayer flowing through them to fill the boxes with the power of the Holy Spirit, for safety on the journey, and to dedicate the work to the Lord in the name of Jesus Christ.
Once the boxes leave the center they are delivered to a centralized headquarters for the Mid-Atlantic Region where they will be inspected for customs and prepared and delivered to needy children overseas using whatever means necessary-boats, airplanes, trains and even elephants. Using special tracking technology, participants can follow their box online and discover the country in which their gift will be delivered to a child in need.
Blank shared with the group how much these boxes mean to the children. He and his wife Kim last year went with a group of 100 people to Uganda.
“It was very touching to see the joy on the face of children who received their own toothbrush after having to share one toothbrush among 24 village children,” the pastor said.
Volunteers’ hands and minds were busy circling the room with a box for an overseas girl or boy. They were carefully filling the empty shoeboxes with items ranging from toys to pencils to toothbrushes, hats, gloves, and bibles, etc.
One special ingredient – a must for each box – hand-written notes of encouragement and love with a name and address on it.
“The kids look for the messages in the box, they want to know who loved them enough to pack a box for them,” said Dan Blank.
“Once a month I participate in a community outreach program with other Garden Spot residents led by our Community Life Enrichment Director Coleen Musselman. I feel very useful and have a purpose here. After living here for seven years it just keeps getting better. It makes me so happy to be a part of Operation Christmas Child,” said resident Lynn Greenlee.
Deb Ward, a Samaritan’s Purse volunteer from Lancaster West who was helping to man the various stations, said, “I have been packing shoebox gifts for years and understand the impact a simple gift can make in the life of a child. There are several ways people serve Samaritan’s Purse. Teams for Media, Community, Church, Collection and Prayer get the Lord’s work done.”
This event was sponsored in part by Garden Spot Village, Yoder’s Country Market in New Holland, O’Donnell and Phillips Dentistry of Lancaster and JB Hostetter & Sons in Mount Joy.
For more information on how to participate in Operation Christmas Child or how to host your own packing party, call 717-426-1339 or visit samaritanspurse.org.
