Most of us have been blessed with the means to give and to receive. We have pens and pencils to write with at school, as well as books and notebooks to write in. We have clothes to wear and shoes on our feet. We often take these simple commodities for granted. Often times we can’t see past our bubble of blessings, allowing us to forget that there are people who have nothing.
Every year we take out time to give back to those who have nothing. We take something as simple as a shoebox and turn it into hope with the help of Samaritan’s Purse. Every year Samaritan’s Purse delivers shoeboxes all over the world, with the help of regular people who take the time do wrap a shoebox and fill it with goodies.
How To Build A Shoebox?
1. Choose an age range and a gender of a child you wish to send the shoebox to
2. Then buy the goods
3. Wrap the shoebox
4. Pack the shoebox
5. Print off the label
6. Pray over your shoebox
7. Find a drop off location near you
Items We Always Try To Include:
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- A pack of toothbrushes
- A pack of crayons or colored pencils
- A hairband, hairclips, etc. for girls
- A beanie
- A wow item (a ball or a doll or a stuffed animal)
- A few smaller toys (tiny trucks or marbles or yo-yo or bouncy balls)
- School supplies
- Hygiene products
- A picture of the sender and a short note written on the back
- An encouraging verse
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So that we know where our shoeboxes go, we always print off the tracking labels. Our shoeboxes have made it to Benin, Mexico, Ukraine, Mali, Namibia, Zambia, Burkina Faso, and The Democratic Republic of The Congo.
If you don’t have the time to make a shoebox, you can always build one online as well here.
For more details on building your shoebox or where to get your tracking labels, check out Samaritan’s Purse’s website here.
Shoebox Recipient Stories
Our 2019 Shoeboxes
- Operation Christmas Child 2020Lately, Operation Christmas Child has been getting some heat because, along with the shoebox, they give the children the hope of Jesus. I find it interesting that telling children who are hopeless that there is a God in Heaven who loves them and died for them is offensive, wrong, and no longer belongs in our society. Newsboys released a song in 2015 called Guilty. In the song, they wrote these lyrics: When did it become breaking a rule To say your name out loud in school When your name’s the only one that sets us free When did it become incorrect To speak the truth about life and death When your life gave us all eternity I thought those lyrics really captured the world today.