Osky sends Christmas gifts around the world

Nov. 23—Shoeboxes full of Christmas gifts from ordinary families in southeast Iowa will soon be making their way to children all over the globe thanks to a Christian organization that wants to spread the love of Jesus all over the world.

Operation Christmas Child is a ministry of Samaritan's Purse, an organization that was started by the celebrated American evangelist Billy Graham. According to Samaritan's Purse, the idea of sending shoeboxes full of Christmas gifts to children in need has its roots in the 1990s in the United Kingdom.

Dave Cooke, a Welsh businessman, and his wife wanted to send gifts to children in Romania at the end of the Cold War in 1990. In 1993, Cooke reached out to Graham's son Franklin Graham to ask if Samaritan's Purse could help send similar gifts to Bosnia. Graham reached out to people in America and Canada, and Samaritan's Purse sent 28,000 shoeboxes to the Balkans that year.

From there, a partnership was born, and in 1995 the project became an official part of Samaritan's Purse.

Fast-forward nearly 30 years later, to a small town community in southeast Iowa. Central Church in Oskaloosa is carrying on the tradition that Cooke and Graham started. For years, the church has functioned as the drop-off point for shoeboxes in Mahaska County and certain surrounding communities. Jil Van Utrecht, who organizes the project for Central Church, estimates that this year around 17 local churches dropped off shoeboxes filled with Christmas cheer, for a grand total of 1,316 shoeboxes collected at the church in all.

Central Church held a packing party on Nov. 12, where attendees of the church showed up to pack 100 shoeboxes to send to children in need. The church's members also packed shoeboxes at home, or simply donated money to purchase items that were included in them.

"The purpose of these shoeboxes ... they are going to go to countries where ministry partners have been working with and preparing for, and they're going to go to basically an event like a party where the shoeboxes are given to children. And they're going to go to areas where kids might not have ever gotten a gift, or just to know that they are thought of. That they are loved. And so, they go all over the world.

"They will go to areas that kids might be ... living in a dump, they'll be going to orphanages, they'll be taking some into war-torn areas," she adds. "And so they're given the gift. The ministry partners are there, and they work with them, and then the children also get to hear about Jesus and how much He loves them, and the gospel is also presented to them."

Van Utrecht says that the gift-giving party is followed by a 12-week discipleship program to continue spreading the gospel.

"They think one shoebox can impact up to 10 people, so these 100 shoeboxes that we're packing today have the potential to impact 1,000 people," she says.

In Oskaloosa, the experience of simply packing the shoeboxes is rewarding for young and old alike. Max Groenenboom, age 10, has participated in the program for a few years now. He says that when deciding what to include in his shoeboxes, he has to try to predict the personalities of the far-away children who will eventually receive them, but the effort is worth it.

"It's a chance to help people around the world in third-world countries," he says.

Once Central Church collected all the shoeboxes in the immediate area, they were sent down to Ottumwa, to a more regional collection center. Van Utrecht says that southeast Iowa collected 7,890 boxes total this year.

Channing Rucks can be reached at crucks@oskyherald.com.