Presents that open doors: Operation Christmas Child is back

First Baptist Church in Morgan City is participating in its annual Operation Christmas Child collection, a program run by Samaritan’s Purse that aims to spread the Gospel and teach children in impoverished countries about Jesus.
The program involves filling a shoebox with hygiene items, school supplies, toys and some type of clothing.
While some children may receive the shipment at Christmas time, the shipments from various Samaritan Purse distribution centers are “staggered” throughout the year, Joycelyn Slaton, church relations coordinator at First Baptist Church, said Monday.
The goal is more the symbolic message than the contents in the box, she said.
“The main thing is each shoebox opens a door to present the Gospel,” Slaton said. “That’s its purpose. It’s not to say give this child the best toy you can find. It’s to excite them and get them involved in people loving them, that there are people somewhere who love them and God loves them.”
As of Monday afternoon, the church had gathered more than 1,500 shoeboxes. Of those, 525 came from their church, while a local family, alone, donated 805. Slaton said a year ago, the same family packed just over 1,000 boxes.
“We’ve been packing shoeboxes for approximately 20 years,” she said of the church. “We’ve been a collection center for 15 years.”
Anyone interested in the program can begin bringing their boxes to the church’s fellowship hall Monday and can continue until Nov. 23. The boxes can be delivered from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. each day of operation where they will be received by someone at the church in a curbside drop off.
While any shoebox can be used, some people use plastic shoe box-type containers.
“In the past, they’ve encouraged that, if possible, because they can use the shoe boxes to go down to the stream and get water,” Slaton said. “They can use these boxes in the villages, but it’s certainly not a required thing.”
Those participating in the program are asked to include a $9 donation inside the box to cover its costs.
Slaton said if someone wants to purchase a bag of items for the church to fill boxes with or to make a monetary donation, those are acceptable, too. She said checks should be made out to First Baptist Church with the notation that it is for the Operation Christmas Child Program.
Last year, the church collected 4,861 shoeboxes, including 3,311 from the Morgan City area. The remainder came from other sites in Houma and Thibodaux where boxes were collected and brought to the Morgan City collection center.
After the boxes’ contents are checked in Morgan City to ensure they meet the proper criteria, they will be shipped to one of Samaritan Purse’s main distribution centers where they will be checked again. Then, they will be shipped to one of numerous countries worldwide.
The program is available to children, ages 2-14, and each child will receive one box in their lifetime.
Slaton said the church has had visitors who received the boxes as children talk about their impact.
“Things we wouldn’t think about as being special, to them means a world of difference,” she said after explaining how some of the items, such as a washcloth or a lighted yo-yo, are things that recipients recalled that they remembered the most.
The children who receive the box are offered the opportunity to participate in a 12-lesson program called “The Greatest Journey.”
“It teaches them about salvation and receiving Christ in their heart,” Slaton said.