Christmas in January

While we were in Texas in December one of the questions I was asked several times was if I ever got to see the Christmas shoebox gifts delivered to children. It’s really funny, but Westerners from countries that donate the shoebox gifts through Samaritan’s Purse seldom ever get to see them delivered.

This little girl is modeling her new hat.

The whole process, after the gifts leave our prosperous countries, is handled by local churches in the countries where the shoeboxes are delivered. That makes the fact that a couple of times each year I get to be a part of the delivery, REALLY special. I took the pictures and video in this blog two weeks ago when helping at various shoebox distributions in Siem Reap province. I always enjoy it and hear special stories from children and parents every time. 

These little guys were focused on looking through their boxes at all the goodies

They were both really excited by what they found!

If someone gets a shirt that is too big, or shoes that don't fit, there is no complaining. This group is gathered around the well discussing their gifts and trading for the right sizes. 

I’ve had parents come to me and say “thank you” because their child only had one pair of clothes and in the shoebox was a complete set of new clothes. I’ve had teachers in schools say “thank you” because children who don’t have school supplies now have school supplies. And the kids always say “thank you” because they love getting toys, which is very, very rare for most of them. Of course I’m not the one giving the gifts, but I guess that is why I’m posting this photo and video blog. TO SAY “THANK YOU” from the kids and to let you see just a few pictures of some of the kids who receive those gifts. Hope you enjoy sharing in the joy just a bit.

This little boy is using the traditional hand gesture to say "Thank You"

This video is just a taste of how excited the kids are when they open their gifts. On this particular day when the kids first opened their boxes the squeals were sooooo loud it hurt my ears.

The other part of the story is the local church pastors who volunteer a large amount of their time to coordinate delivering these boxes to the remotest and most disadvantaged parts of the country. For those of you who have sent shoeboxes you also are helping these hard-working men and women, share the Gospel across their country. I have the great fortune to be friends with two of the national leadership team for delivering the shoebox gifts. These men are always overwhelmed at the love others have for the children of their country. It’s no wonder that God is doing great works in their churches. My friend Sophea recently had to work with his congregation to build a much larger sanctuary to hold the growth of their church. Your shoebox gift story doesn’t end with a child, it is only the beginning of what God is doing in expanding His Kingdom in nations around the world!

This is my friend Pastor Sophea. He is the National Leadership Team Leader .
He is responsible for leading the team that distributes the shoebox gifts across the country.
His church has outgrown their current facility and is almost finished with their new place!