September weeks 3 & 4 Pray for Operation Christmas Child

During the 3rd week of September we are praying for Moldova, Poland and Romania.

Moldova’s request is: Pray for the children who have heard the Gospel through OCC and the follow-up work with them. Click here for a video link: Moldova OCC Video

Poland’s requests are:
*Pray God will provide a new vision for OCC in Poland. Pray that He will open the hearts of more children and their families.
*Pray for wisdom as the team prepares for the national volunteer meetings in Sobieszowo.

Romania’s request is: Pray God will provide someone to serve as a volunteer leader in the Moldova area. For Livia's Romanian Shoebox Story click here: Shoebox Stories! 

Romania Operation Christmas Child Distribution

During the 4th week of September we are praying for Serbia and Slovakia. 

Serbia’s requests are:

OCC Distribution Serbia

* Pray God will bless the children who receive the shoeboxes and their parents. Pray they will accept God and follow Him.
* Pray the volunteers and other believers are able to teach the children how to apply biblical principles they learn through TGJ to their everyday lives.
* Pray for the new national volunteers as they begin to serve in their new roles.
* Pray the people from the new Roma house group that formed after the distributions will increase in the wisdom and revelation of the knowledge of God.
* Pray OCC will reach more children in the coming season.

Solovakia is a locked central European state south of Poland. Only 1% of the over 5 million population is Evangelical Christian. There are 20 different people groups that speak 13 different languages. Slovakia’s requests are:
* Pray for the new OCC season in Slovakia. Pray many children will become true disciples of Christ through TGJ.
* Pray God will open the doors for OCC Outreach Events to occur in the places God has put on the heart of the local church pastors.

* Slovakia Shoebox Testimony: Dominika was raised in Slovakia, and her family was very poor. When she was four years old, her father left them, and her mother had no money to buy gifts for Christmas. That year, Dominika received a shoebox gift from Operation Christmas Child. For the first time, as she read the note in her box talking about Jesus' love, she felt that someone loved her. 

For the History of Operation Christmas Child Timeline Click Here: https://www.samaritans-purse.org.uk/who-we-are/our-history/history-of-operation-christmas-child/ 

September Operation Christmas Child Prayer Requests (week 1 & 2)

Monthly Prayer Update – September 2016 

Natasha: “When I received a shoebox, I knew there were people out there who cared for me. I was not alone.”
  Click for STORY!

Prayer Reminders

* Praise God that even sensitive countries have received shoeboxes and volunteers are sharing the Good News with children.
* Pray for the national goal of reaching 9.5 million shoeboxes during the Collection Season.
* Pray for the Processing Centers that will host more than 110,000 volunteers to be set up quickly and safely as the processing season approaches.

This month we are praying for Balkans, Baltics and Central Europe.  The International Prayer Requests that each country faces are:
* Wisdom to recruit, select and lead new and/or transitioning volunteer leadership team members.
* Provision of resources to reach their God-sized goals for the current year.

This week are are praying for Belarus.
* Pray for the strengthening and renewal of those who take part in the OCC project. Pray God will send new laborers to join in the ministry. Pray for interdenominational cooperation.

* Pray for the hearts of the children who were at the Outreach Events, of those who have been in The Greatest Journey (TGJ) classes, and for their parents. Pray that they will start to attend Sunday schools and summer Bible schools. Pray the children, along with their parents, will start to follow Christ and will join the church.
* Pray that there will be no obstacles for TGJ classes or Christmas events as it is forbidden to celebrate Christmas in certain areas.

Franklin Graham delivers shoebox gifts to children in Bosnia. The program has grown from 28,000 the first year to over 100 million.

We are also praying for Bosnia-Herzegovina. Two decades after it started, Operation Christmas Child continues to deliver shoebox gifts and the Good News of Jesus Christ to boys and girls around the world. Twenty years ago, Franklin Graham made a promise to collect a few gifts for boys and girls in war-torn Bosnia. Today, Operation Christmas Child has become a year-round, international project, delivering millions of shoeboxes to children in nearly 100 countries each year. Click HERE for full story

* Pray for the new members of the national and regional volunteers as they are equipped to lead the OCC ministry of Gospel multiplication in their country.

Bulgaria - Pray the local church leaders continue to have the opportunity to share the Gospel and help the children grow in their knowledge and faith in God. Pray for the children who have graduated from TGJ and will be attending Christian summer camps.
* Testimony from Bulgaria: Miroslav was abandoned by his parents from birth and was brought up in the orphanage system. He has special needs and finds a way to express himself through the arts. He draws all the time and makes cards from different natural materials. He shared that he ran out of colored pencils. In his Operation Christmas Child gift, he found a pencil box with everything he needed to draw, as well as a set of paints.

Lithuania * Pray for the upcoming OCC season. Pray God will guide the volunteers and give them wisdom and strength.
* Pray for the pastors of the evangelical churches. Pray they will understand the importance and urgency reaching out to the youth and will give themselves to this service.
* Testimony from Lithuania: After one distribution in Lithuania, a girl came up to us and shared her story. That week their class was going to the swimming pool. It's a great event for the kids living in a village area. The girl had one problem – she didn't have slippers and without them kids were not allowed to come into the pool. When the girl opened her box and found slippers, she was so excited that she rushed toward us to tell of her great miracle and show us proof that God really cares about her! 

Lithuania

 

Macedonia -
* Pray for the children participating in all the post-TGJ activities.
* Pray for the new volunteers as they grasp the vision of OCC.
* Pray for God’s guidance and wisdom as the team plans for the coming season.

Join the Operation Christmas Child Prayer Network: CLICK HERE!