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VALLEY — Susan Otto talked about Operation Christmas Child at Wednesday’s noon hour meeting of the Kiwanis Club of Valley. She’s a member of Plant City Baptist Church and is active with the church resources team for the Chattahoochee Area Council, which promotes Operation Christmas Child in the west central Georgia-east central Alabama region.

Operation Christmas Child is a project of Samaritan’s Purse, an international Christian relief and evangelism organization headed by Franklin Graham.

“Volunteers from around the world collect gifts of fun-filled toys, hygiene items, school supplies and even clothing and fill a shoebox,” Otto explained. “These boxes are sent to children in need all around the world to demonstrate God’s love in a tangible way. For many of these children it will be the first time they have ever received a gift. The free gift of a shoebox demonstrates God’s free gift when he sent us His best, His own son to die for our sins. God doesn’t expect anything in return except for us to return His love. When a child receives a shoebox filled with gifts, nothing is expected in return.”

Since 1993, Operation Christmas Child has collected and delivered more than 220 million shoebox gifts in more than 170 countries and territories.

“This will be our 31st year to collect and send shoeboxes,” Otto said. “That’s three generations of children who have received the word of God through a shoebox. Many of these children have grown up to serve God in many aspects of ministry. Some work with Samaritan’s Purse and ministry partners. They have grown up to be pastors, teachers and leaders of their local church.”

Otto talked about a friend of hers, Cathy Driver, who just returned from a trip to Peru and what she experienced there on behalf of Operation Christmas Child. “She was much surprised to learn that a very kind airport attendant in Miami had received a shoebox when he was a child,” she said. “He is now working at the airport and in school studying to be a minister.”

Otto said that anyone can pack a shoebox and take part in what Operation Christmas Child does. She said that churches, civic organizations, school groups, families and individuals have done this through the years. “You as an individual or a member of a family might just want to do this,” she said. “You can pack the shoebox full of fun items, pay the $10 shipping fee and deliver that box to your local drop-off location during National Collection Week. It’s that simple.”

National Collection Week is the third week in November. “Our local drop-off location is at West End Baptist Church in Valley where Beverly Story is the drop-off coordinator. All of the boxes in our area are delivered to that church, counted and packed in a U-Haul van. Last year, we collected a total of 2,131 boxes. These boxes are carried to the district location at Lakewood Baptist Church in Phenix City. At that site, more than 20,000 boxes were placed on an 18-wheeler and transported to a processing center in Atlanta.”

From Atlanta, most of those boxes were sent to the Port of Savannah to be shipped to destinations all over the globe. The few items that were undeliverable for some reason were sent to homeless shelters around Atlanta.

Other processing centers for Operation Christmas Child are located in Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Boone, N.C., Charlotte, N.C., Chicago, Dallas/Fort Worth, Denver and Fullerton, Cal.

The shoeboxes go to almost anyplace imaginable. Otto said she has seen photos of Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes being carried by llamas and elephants. “They use whatever transportation is available to get these boxes to the children,” she said. “Some of them go to hard-to-reach places such as the Ivory Coast, Senegal, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Chad and Burkina Faso, all on the African continent.”

In 2023, the Southeast Region collected the most boxes – more than 1.2 million of them. More than 10 million were collected nationally and 12 million worldwide.

Otto discussed how shoeboxes can be built online. “At the Samaritan’s Purse website you can go the Operation Christmas Child link,” she said. “It will direct you a section telling you how to assemble a shoebox.”

The instructions ask you to choose the age of a boy or girl you wish to pack for. You can then choose the items you would like to have in the box. It costs $25 to pack such a box. This includes the shipping cost. You can follow this box on the way to a child. These boxes go to the hard-to-reach areas. When you build shoeboxes online, it provides believers in remote regions a creative way to share the Good News in a culturally-sensitive manner. Online boxes are carefully prepared, abiding by strict customs regulations to safeguard partners who will deliver the gifts. This also protects the boys and girls who will receive the boxes.”

Since 2009, more than 40.5 million children have enrolled in a 12-lesson discipleship program known as the Greatest Journey. Taught by local pastors, staff and ministry partners, the Greatest Journey teaches the Gospel story to children and urges them to share the story with others.

“More than 20 million of these boys and girls have given their lives to Christ during this course,” Otto said. “The books are printed in their own language. They complete the study after 12 lessons and are rewarded with a graduation ceremony and given a New Testament in their own language.”

Other counties where shoeboxes are being collected include Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Finland and Spain. There are more than 540,000 volunteers worldwide, with nearly 215,000 of them being in the U.S. These volunteers are involved in collecting, shipping and distributing shoebox gifts.

“Why is this ministry so important to me?” Otto asked. “Because God laid it on my heart and told me that it was what He wanted me to do. It has been an amazing mission and an amazing ministry. I can’t tell you all the impacts I have seen through my own eyes through this ministry. It’s about the children, but it’s much more. I’m excited to have just a small part in the overall ministry, and I would for each of you to join in some way to what we are trying to do.”

Otto said the goal for Plant City Baptist was to pack 1,000 boxes this year. “We are on pace to do that,” she said.

It’s estimated that one box can touch as many as 72 lives, when family members and friends are included. “It multiplies as it spreads out,” Otto said. “This is an important movement that’s taking place, and I am glad God led me to it.”