Operation Christmas Child
This was the first year for Real Life to partner with Samaritan’s Purse and Operation Christmas Child to pack shoeboxes. We ordered fifty boxes because that was the smallest size pack we could get. When we talked about our goal for the church we decided that twenty-five boxes seemed reasonable. During youth group, we challenged the teens to raise enough money to pack ten shoeboxes. On the last Sunday of October, we tallied all of the money they had raised to meet their goal of packing ten shoe boxes. We were blown away when we realized they had actually collected enough money to pack twenty-one shoeboxes and to pay for the shipping on all twenty-one of their boxes. On November 1, 2020, we took time during youth group to pack our shoeboxes, write notes for each of our boxes, and we took pictures to include in the boxes.
During the month of October, our church family packed and delivered another twenty-four boxes to the church for us to send. Friends, that is forty-five shoeboxes from Real Life Community. Forty-five children somewhere in the world will have a blessed Christmas because of the generosity of families and teenagers at Real Life. What may seem like a small sacrifice for some, is a gift of extravagance to others. Thank you, church family, for packing boxes and bringing them to the church. Thank you, Real Teens, for your giving your change, your spending money, your entire paychecks, and money from things you were saving for.
My heart is full, my goal was blown out of the water, and I continue to be blessed to be a pastor at Real Life Community Church of the Nazarene!