Every year, we pack shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child.  I love this project because it’s a simple, approachable opportunity for ministry that even my toddlers can participate in.

In case you’re not familiar with Operation Christmas Child, it’s a ministry of Samaritan’s Purse that gathers shoe boxes full of gifts and distributes them to children around the world.  Gifts are distributed in six different “categories”:

• 2-4-year-old boy
• 2-4-year-old girl
• 5-9-year-old boy
• 5-9-year-old girl
• 10-14-year-old boy
• 10-14-year-old girl

This helps narrow down the options a little when you’re choosing what to include!  Also, there are a few things that can’t be sent, like breakables, liquids, and anything that might be associated with warfare.  (These all have pretty clear reasons, like problems with shipping/customs.)  That still leaves a lot of options, though!

What We Do

There are a lot of ways to go about helping with the shoe box project.  We like to make it an especially personal project for each of kids, so we fill one box per child, to correspond to their age and gender.  (Or close.  The toddlers aren’t always 2 yet, but we still fill 2-year-old boxes with them.)

Having a box to fill for a girl her own ages gives my daughter the opportunity to think about what she would like to receive, and give some of those items.  (Livia helped a little with “Caleb’s box” this year.  He’s my only boy and not old enough to really help yet!)

We talk about the fact that not everyone has all that we have, as we look for certain necessities that we always include in our boxes: toothbrushes/toothpaste, soap, and washcloths.  (Tip: I like to include those “magic towels” – like this, but we get ours from the dollar store – as they’re easy to pack into a small space.)

They learn about cultural sensitivity, very broadly speaking, as we talk about things like not including books written in English, since we don’t know where the boxes are going and they might not speak our language.  We usually choose medium skin-toned dolls, since, again, we don’t know where the boxes are going – this sort of “splits the difference,” and increases the chances that the little girls who get our boxes will get dolls that don’t look completely dissimilar to them.

Even in little things, we can consider how cultures differ: when we buy our Magic Towels, they have several different sports ball options.  We usually send soccer balls, since soccer is a more universally-familiar sport.  (By the way, I don’t think there would be anything wrong with sending footballs or different skin-toned babies.  These are just little things that give us opportunity to teach our children to think through what will be meaningful in the recipient’s culture rather than their own.)

And we always, always, always include a doll in each of our little-girl boxes.  I think every little girl should have a doll, even if she doesn’t have any other toys.  We love these dolls from Target, because they’re very small and easy to pack into a shoebox, but they’re good, cuddly babies; they don’t look or feel junky.  (Go into the store and look, though, because at the store you can buy just a doll, without all of the accessories that probably won’t fit into your shoe box.  And if you haven’t already, be sure to sign up for Cartwheel.  We got a deal on our dolls this year.)

We also like to include something to wear and, when possible, some form of footwear.  Flip-flops aren’t amazingly sturdy or high-quality or anything, but they fit well in a shoebox along with lots of other things.  Except for the youngest ones, we always include something to write with and on.  We always include some type of hair thing(s) for the girls.  And we’re sure to include some classic toys that don’t require any batteries, don’t break easily, etc.: rubber balls, yo-yo’s, Matchbox/Hot Wheels-style cars, etc.  (Oh, yeah, and we like to use a plastic shoebox, so it’s weather-proof for the long-term.  You can pack in a regular cardboard shoe box, though!)  In general, though, our fillers depend on what we see, what the girls think their recipients would enjoy, and what God lays on our hearts.

(My mom was telling us the other day about one of the “shoe box stories” they heard.  A little boy got a whole box of socks.  Nothing else in it – just socks.  The workers were afraid he was going to be upset, as all the children around him had toys, but he was ecstatic!  His feet had been cold and he’d been praying for socks.  God knows.  But I always wonder if the people who pack those “oddball” boxes are thinking, “Really, God?  You want me to pack that?”)

Tracking Your Box

One feature Samaritan’s Purse added a couple years ago that we really enjoy, and that gives us one more opportunity to use this as a teaching tool for our kids, is tracking.  If you’re able, you include a small fee with your box to cover the costs of shipping and distribution.  (They still will love to receive your box, though, even if you aren’t able to do this.  Someone else might have money to give, but not the ability to pack a box!)  Well, now if you pay that fee online, you can print out labels for your boxes that include a bar code.  This bar code lets you track your box to learn which country it went to.

Now we’re able to look up the country after our box is delivered, and learn about what life is probably like for the children who live in that area.

Other Options

There are other ways you can participate.  Lots of people have “shoe box packing parties.”  A whole group will get together and pack a bunch of boxes.  You can either bring your own things, and everybody pack individual boxes (like we do), just all in the same place.  Or you can pool your resources.  One person can bring a bunch of toothbrushes and toothpaste.  Someone else can bring a bunch of notebooks.  And so on.

You can check to find out if someone nearby packs boxes in bulk.  There’s a lady in our area who packs up almost 1,000 shoe boxes every year.  Throughout the year she contacts companies for donations of items, she gathers donations from friends, etc.  Then she figures out how to distribute it all amongst the boxes, and sets up assembly lines for each age/gender group.  The children and I got to go help pack a couple hundred boxes this year.  (Here Caleb did get to “help,” as Mama wore him the whole time!)

If someone in your area does this kind of thing, find out if there’s something you can donate.  If you’re an amazing couponer and are able to pick up toiletries for pennies, considering stockpiling to donate.  Or at back-to-school sales, buy extra pencils, sharpeners, notebooks, etc.

Or maybe you’re the one with money, who’s short on time.  You could donate to help cover the costs of shoebox distribution for those who pack boxes but can’t afford the extra for the shipping.

What else do you do to help your children participate in ministry?  Leave a comment and let us know so we can incorporate some of your great ideas!