OCC!
We have had an amazing week giving out gifts to the children from outreaches and church from OCC, (Operational Christmas child.) On a side note nothing to actually do with Christmas! It is a charity from I believe America, where people fill a shoe box, from all different countries. The boxes we gave out were from the U.S.A and U.K. You chose to fill a box for either a boy or a girl and there are different age categories to choose from. I'm sure many of you have done this, me and my family used to. The boxes are sent to less fortunate children like here in our church and Bical! We gave these boxes to over 200 children this May over the span of one week.
We invited the children to the church from all of the outreach locations to receive their gifts. But this wasn't just about the gifts, we had to prepare a two day program. During the two days we had with the children we would worship, dance, read stories and teach them about Jesus. We did this in two locations first our church and second an hour boat ride away with no transport to this unreached location called Bical.
I can't quite put into words how special it was to bless all these children with gifts from overseas. Everything you buy here isn’t the same quality as a 1st world country. Socks get holes in quicker and toys break really quickly due to how cheaply everything is made… ever the paper is so thin I often rip it with my pencil. When we called the children by name to get their gifts it was such a joy. As they opened these boxes full of practical things and things they would enjoy I couldn’t stop crying. They were so overwhelmed and blessed and I was so blessed to just witness it! Just some ideas of what were in the boxes… pencils, pens, toothbrushes, footballs, yoyos, notebooks, stickers, toys, hairbands, letters and photos from the people who sent them, clothes, shoes, bags, cuddly toys and so much more although every box was different.
Most importantly we really taught them the best gift of all is know the Lord. We shared the gospel with them and told them about God's love.
Traveling to Bical was an amazing opportunity serving these people. They were so poor and really have nothing there, no shops, little food and yet loads of people and families. Dan and I came back at night and set off very early for the next day as it wasn't safe for me to sleep there being a foreigner. I know God is protecting me, but there are many known anti government terrorists in that area so I wanted to be wise and keep safe!
It was an absolute honour to see the children receive their boxes, so beautifully thought out. It really is better to give than to receive! The pictures say it all!
"Remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, it is more blessed to give than to receive." Acts 20:35
We have had an amazing week giving out gifts to the children from outreaches and church from OCC, (Operational Christmas child.) On a side note nothing to actually do with Christmas! It is a charity from I believe America, where people fill a shoe box, from all different countries. The boxes we gave out were from the U.S.A and U.K. You chose to fill a box for either a boy or a girl and there are different age categories to choose from. I'm sure many of you have done this, me and my family used to. The boxes are sent to less fortunate children like here in our church and Bical! We gave these boxes to over 200 children this May over the span of one week.
We invited the children to the church from all of the outreach locations to receive their gifts. But this wasn't just about the gifts, we had to prepare a two day program. During the two days we had with the children we would worship, dance, read stories and teach them about Jesus. We did this in two locations first our church and second an hour boat ride away with no transport to this unreached location called Bical.
I can't quite put into words how special it was to bless all these children with gifts from overseas. Everything you buy here isn’t the same quality as a 1st world country. Socks get holes in quicker and toys break really quickly due to how cheaply everything is made… ever the paper is so thin I often rip it with my pencil. When we called the children by name to get their gifts it was such a joy. As they opened these boxes full of practical things and things they would enjoy I couldn’t stop crying. They were so overwhelmed and blessed and I was so blessed to just witness it! Just some ideas of what were in the boxes… pencils, pens, toothbrushes, footballs, yoyos, notebooks, stickers, toys, hairbands, letters and photos from the people who sent them, clothes, shoes, bags, cuddly toys and so much more although every box was different.
Most importantly we really taught them the best gift of all is know the Lord. We shared the gospel with them and told them about God's love.
Traveling to Bical was an amazing opportunity serving these people. They were so poor and really have nothing there, no shops, little food and yet loads of people and families. Dan and I came back at night and set off very early for the next day as it wasn't safe for me to sleep there being a foreigner. I know God is protecting me, but there are many known anti government terrorists in that area so I wanted to be wise and keep safe!
It was an absolute honour to see the children receive their boxes, so beautifully thought out. It really is better to give than to receive! The pictures say it all!
"Remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, it is more blessed to give than to receive." Acts 20:35