I Want More

Ariel says it best...

"Look at this stuff, Isn't it neat? Wouldn't you think my collection's complete? Wouldn't you think I'm the girl who has everything? Look at this trove; Treasures untold; How many wonders can one “home” hold? Lookin' around here you'd think sure, she's got everything...I've got gadgets and gizmos aplenty. I've got whozits and whatzits galore. You want thingamabobs? I got twenty-But who cares? No big deal, I want more..."

Are you content with what you have or could she have been singing about you? What do you want? 

I want people around the world to learn to have a personal relationship with Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior before they die! I want to make an impact on the people in the community where I live and serve God. I don’t want to just read the Bible, I want to live it out loud—to be the hands and feet of Jesus—to go where He would go, to love how He would love, and to serve others how He would serve. 

We cannot do that by sitting at home or in a church pew “watching” church—WE MUST BE THE CHURCH. We must seek opportunities to serve, to give, to help others at home and abroad. We need to pray for our missionaries all around the world. We need to seek opportunities to help minister to their families and search for ways to partner with their ministries. 

We need to help touch the lives of those in need. One easy way we can make a difference is by demonstrating God's love in a tangible way to needy children around the world.  Together with churches worldwide, we can share the Good News of Jesus Christ through a simple Operation Christmas Child Shoebox Gift. It is easy, fun, something the whole family can do together, and a great way to spread God's Love! 

By taking part of the blessings we have been so abundantly given and sharing with others by packing Operation Christmas Child gift-filled shoeboxes over the next few weeks we can give children around the world a gift, for some it is their 1st time to ever receive a gift! These boxes will go to children in over 100 countries around the world. I challenge you to pack a shoebox this year and to help make a difference this holiday season and EVERY DAY wherever God has placed you!! 

Operation Christmas Child

How Christmas in the USA often looks...

1 OCC Shoebox Per Child Per Lifetime...Christmas Around the World...

April Item of the Month Operation Christmas Child

What's your favorite "wow" item for your gift-filled shoeboxes? What goes in a shoebox is fun...what comes out is eternal! I like to put a soccer ball or a stuffed animal! Our APRIL item of the month is stuffed animals. 

Here is a story for you:

“My name is Sveta, and I am nine years old. I have dreamed all my life about a doll with long black hair. We knew that someone was going to bring presents to our orphanage, but I could not even begin to think that in that present I would see what I wanted! I prayed and said, 'Lord, all that will be there I will accept with great joy and excitement and be thankful and will try not to sneak a peek early.' And then when I opened my gift box I saw a doll! Can you believe that she had long black hair! I believe that I was at that moment the happiest person in the world! I am so thankful to God that he loves me so much and takes care of me.” 

This little girl from Colombia held on tight to the stuffed animal she received in her shoebox gift. You can send this kind of joy too when you include a stuffed animal packed with prayer. 

When you pack a stuffed animal in a shoebox, you give a child something they can hold and love. This little boy from Bulgaria couldn't contain his excitement over the bear he received in his gift!

OCC Prayer: Peru, Suriname and Uruguay

WEEK 4: (March 27th-April 2nd)
OCC Mid-South Requests

1. Pray for Connect volunteers and OCC staff as they travel to the Connect Conferences in San Francisco-April 7-9, and Atlanta April 28-30. 
2. Pray for all Area Coordinators as they lead, equip and encourage their area teams. 
3. Pray for Franklin Graham and the Decision America Tour; he will be in Arkansas for a Prayer Rally on April 12, 2016 at Noon on the Capitol Front Steps at 500 Woodlane Street, Little Rock, AR 72201.

OCC NEA Requests 

1. Pray for our NEA Team as search for Relay Centers & Coordinators, new prayer team members, and new donor churches! Praise God for adding to our Area Team this year! 
2. Pray for our goals for shoebox collections for 2016: 11,222 Gospel Opportunities!!!!! 

OCC International Prayer Requests - General Prayer Requests each country faces:

• 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.

Peru - Shoebox gifts collected in the United States in 2015 will be delivered to 258,816 children in Peru. Praise God that over 2,150,100 children have received a shoebox since 1996, when Operation Christmas Child began distributing gifts here. Peru has 30.4 million people and is located in western South America. 27% of the population is 14 years old or younger. 

Peru

Peru - The Greatest Journey

1. Pray for the procedures that need to happen with the government of Peru to free the shipping containers, especially for a favorable technical opinion so that they do not delay the containers in customs. 
2. Pray for the beginning of new work in different regions. Pray the Gospel will advance through the ministry of OCC and reach the children in the neediest areas of Peru. 
3. Pray for me and the mission team I will be traveling with – I am planning to go to Peru on a Medical Mission Trip June 22-29th. Melinda Dixon will be in Guatemala on a Mission Trip during this same time. Be in prayer for her team also. 
4. Praise God for the opportunity to reach out to the children living in the remotest places in Peru.
5. Pray for the new regions that are involved in OCC. 

• Spiritual Impact Story from Peru: The Discipleship Coordinator of Cajamarca tells us that Maria, who is 9 years old, has felt very happy during the discipleship. It has been a challenge for her to memorize the bible verses, but it has been of great value because she remembers them all the time and is able to share them with her friends at school. When they ask her where she learned them, she invites them to church. Maria says, “I like to invite my friends because I want them to know Him too, how beautiful it is to be able to feel Him when we pray or sing. I am happy I know him”. Rico’s family never went to church. He received a shoebox and, after participating in The Greatest Journey discipleship program (TGJ), became enthusiastic about God. He asked the TGJ leader if he could join her church. She went to see his parents, but they wouldn’t allow him to. Everyone began to pray for the situation; Rico prayed most fervently. The Lord answered. His mother surrendered her life to Jesus and allowed Rico to attend the church services. She even requested for the church leaders to baptize her son. 
• http://www.samaritanspurse.org/operation-christmas-child-countries/peru/ 
• Peru Video: https://youtu.be/dP_-TyAx7AY

Suriname - Shoebox gifts collected in the United States in 2015 will be delivered to 16,176 children in Suriname. Praise God that over 103,900 children have received a shoebox since 1997, when Operation Christmas Child began distributing gifts here. Suriname has 579,000 people and is located on the coast of South America. 26% of the population is 14 years old or younger.

Excitement in Suriname!

 

1. Pray that thirty churches will be motivated to participate in this year's project. 
2. Pray for financial provision for the customs process. 
3. Pray more Ministry Partners will start prayer meetings for and with children and that the MP’s will understand the mission of OCC and will be enthusiastic about reaching the children of Suriname. 
4. Pray that the children who don’t yet know Christ will be invited to participate in OCC and will become followers of Him. 
5. Pray for the formation of more regional volunteer leadership teams.

• http://www.samaritanspurse.org/operation-christmas-child-countries/suriname/

Uruguay - In Uruguay, four children arrived at a shoe box distribution without any shoes, and each of the gifts they received contained a pair of shoes. The father and many people in the neighborhood accepted Christ when they saw the power of these simple gifts. 

1. Pray for the upcoming TGJ trainings. 

Children in Uruguay receiving their Shoeboxes!

For some great Praise Shoebox stories visit: http://www.samaritanspurse.org/article/giving-god-the-glory-for-occ-miracles 

“Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.” (1 John 5:14)

March Operation Christmas Child Prayer Requests

March Prayer Reminders:
· Praise God for the 40 countries that have received shoeboxes and volunteer teams are now working hard in Outreach Events to share the Good News with children.
· Pray for the shoeboxes still enroute on ships to children in 32 countries.
· Pray for tax exemption of shoeboxes in fifteen countries in East and South Asia and Madagascar.
· Pray for customs clearance of sea containers filled with shoebox Gospel Opportunities in 40 countries.

OCC Mid-South Requests:
· Pray for Connect volunteers and OCC staff as they travel to the Connect Conferences in Wichita-March 3-5, Washington DC-March 17-19, San Francisco-April 7-9, and Atlanta April 28-30.
· Pray for Connect volunteers in Kentucky this month. For God to encourage new volunteers to join the area teams and to rise up Ministry Coordinators. Pray for unity among the area teams, for protection for them, wisdom, strength and energy. Pray for God to open doors with churches and community groups. Pray for all Area Coordinators as they lead, equip and encourage their area teams.
· Pray for OCC Mid-South staff as they travel to meet with area teams in our region.
· Pray for Franklin Graham and the Decision America Tour. The next prayer rally is in Denver, Colorado March 15th.

OCC NEA Requests:
· Pray for our NEA Team meeting on Tuesday, March 15 6pm at Ironhorse Steakhouse & BBQ in Paragould. The address is 2108 Linwood Drive(Hwy 49). REMINDER: Please take time to watch the webinar before March 15th. This would be a perfect time to invite anyone that you are trying to get to join us.
· Pray for our goals for shoebox collections for 2016: 11,222 Gospel Opportunities!!!!!

South America is where we will be focusing our prayer this month!
OCC International Prayer Requests:
General Prayer Requests each country faces:
· 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.

WEEK 1: (March 6-12) This week we will be praying for Argentina, Bolivia and Brazil.

Argentina: Shoebox gifts collected in the United States in 2015 will be delivered to 10,000 children in Argentina. Praise God that over 402,700 children have received a shoebox since 2001, when Operation Christmas Child began distributing gifts here. Argentina has 43.4 million people and is located in South America. 25% of the population is 14 years old or younger.

· Pray for the volunteer National Leadership Team (NLT) as they plan for the upcoming season and the distribution of 13,000 boxes. Pray God will continue to open doors for OCC to reach the children who don’t have access to the Gospel.
· Pray God will provide more The Greatest Journey discipleship program (TGJ) teachers so that more children can participate in the program.
· Praise God for His provision this past year.
· Pray as the team continues to extend OCC into new areas.
· Here is a link about OCC and Argentina: http://www.samaritanspurse.org/operation-christmas-child-countries/argentina/#ooid=9yZG0wbjrjlDN1_Z6_XZ7KNFL5-82qkj

Bolivia has 10.8 million people and is located in western-central South America. 33% of the population is 14 years old or younger. Shoebox gifts collected in the United States in 2015 will be delivered to 10,000 children in Bolivia. Praise God that over 564,800 children have received a shoebox since 1998, when Operation Christmas Child began distributing gifts here.

· Pray God will provide capable volunteers to build shoeboxes in Bolivia and that the God will give the team a strategic plan for distributing these boxes.
· Pray God provides likeminded Ministry Partners (i.e. local partners who hold Outreach Events for children receiving shoeboxes) who will carry out TGJ.

Brazil makes up half of the land surface and population of South America. Of the 315 People Groups 18% are unreached. There are 193 languages spoken there. Only 26% of the population is Evangelical Christian. 23% of the population is 14 years old or younger.
· Pray for the customs agent and that the government will grant permission to release the containers.
· Praise God for His provision this past year.
· Pray God provides the right contacts, who will open the doors of this country to OCC, so that the Brazilian children can hear and respond to the Gospel.

· Shoebox gifts collected in the United States in 2015 will be delivered to 10,000 children in Brazil.
· Praise God that over 246,200 children have received a shoebox since 2002, when Operation Christmas Child began distributing gifts here.
· Pray that future governments would not shirk from the painful but necessary process of excising all that is putrid and corrupt.
· Pray for the poverty that still affects 10s of millions. The poor, especially street children and indigenous peoples, often suffer terrible discrimination and exploitation. Debt slavery affects up to 250,000 people.
· Pray for the crime problem. Brazil is the world’s 2nd highest consumer of illicit drugs and the world’s highest rate of firearm homicides. Unprecedented breakthrough, spiritual and social, is needed to turn this around.
· Follow this link for pictures, stories of OCC Brazil and video of OCC: http://www.samaritanspurse.org/operation-christmas-child-countries/brazil/#ooid=9yZG0wbjrjlDN1_Z6_XZ7KNFL5-82qkj

“So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church.” Acts 12:5 ESV

They prayed without ceasing. Fervent, persistent prayer sent an angel of the Lord to unlock prison chains, wake up Peter, get him to put his clothes on, slip past guards, and open iron gates. 

This is the power of prayer. This is why we pray for Operation Christmas Child, we believe in this same power of prayer! ​It is unlocking doors around the world for us to share the love of Jesus through the power of a simple gift-filled shoebox!

OCC Prayer, Slovakia, & Pastor Saeed

This week will you pray for Slovakia.  It 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.  

1.    Pray that the ministry partners will understand the Operation Christmas Child vision.  

2.    Pray that mission agencies and local churches cooperate to the best effect, with joy and humility. 

3.    Pray for those reaching out to them, for love that will overcome all barriers and stereotypes.

WORLD REQUESTS:

1.    Pray for Pastor Saeed Abedine.  It's been nearly three years since Pastor Saeed, an American citizen, was imprisoned in Iran for his faith in Jesus Christ. His wife Nagmeh, who lives in the U.S. with their two young children, is calling for Christians worldwide to join her in a prayer vigil at noon on September 26—the third anniversary of his imprisonment.  Pastor Saeed has been repeatedly beaten and denied medical care, yet he continues to be a beacon for the Gospel among his fellow prisoners. Please pray for his health and that he will be released soon.  Please remember Pastor Saeed, his family, and persecuted believers around the globe. We can be assured that our God hears the prayers of His people: “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us” (1 John 5:14).

REGIONAL REQUESTS:

1.    Pray for wisdom to recruit, select and lead new and/or transitioning volunteers. 

2.    Pray for provision of resources to reach God-sided goals for the current year!  Our Mid-south shoebox goal is 737,500 boxes.   

3.    Pray for the Collection and Relay Center Coordinators as they prepare for collection week. 

4.    Pray for Media relations volunteers that they will find favor with newspapers, TV, and radio. 

5.    Pray for Church and Community relations volunteers as they share about OCC.  

6.    Pray for the Full-Circle Tours as they continue.

SHOEBOX SIMULCAST PRAYERS September 22 @ 6:30pm, 24 @6:30pm, and 25th @11:30am.  Our Shoebox Simulcast series is THIS WEEK! We would love each of you to BATHE these three simulcasts in prayer. We want you, our prayer army, to mobilize and build a wall of protection around these simulcasts set for TODAY, the 24th and 25th.

We hope to reach a very big audience to get people inspired to advocate for our shoebox recipients and cast the vision for The Greatest Journey. We believe the enemy hates this and will do anything possible to stop this ministry from moving forward. We ask you to pray and pray specifically over these three dates and times listed above. We ask you to spend devoted time asking God to do great and mighty things through these simulcasts to get more people packing shoeboxes!

You can pray specifically seven ways:

1.    That technology will work excellently for each of the simulcasts. That all people who want to join in will not be hindered or frustrated by using Skype. That our staff will have no issues with our systems, our programs, or our sound. That all participating can hear clearly and fully and see their screen to follow along.

2.    That people will make a concerted effort to join in and be fully attentive. That no hindrance or scheme will keep those intended from being available to participate.

3.    That our OCC Connect volunteers will be better equipped, well-versed, and encouraged by new updates and concrete their knowledge in the basics of OCC.

4.    That our project leaders would learn new ways to implement OCC in their churches, community groups, and prayer groups. That they would be inspired to reach even more children and advocate more passionately for the children of the world.

5.    That individuals who have packed boxes will be encouraged to go deeper with OCC and learn more about how to get further involved.

6.    That church leaders and staff would truly grasp the depth of this project and the worldwide disciple-making movement that it is.

7.    For our goal of 737,000 shoeboxes to come from TN, AR, and KY in these next few months. We ask for God to do it and to do it marvelously! “For you are great and do marvelous deeds; You alone are God!” Psalm 86:10 NIV

Sweet Hour of Prayer & Romania

Aren't you so thankful that we can go to our Heavenly Father for a sweet time of prayer! As the old hymn says "I'll cast on Him my every care and wait for thee, sweet hour of prayer." Prayer is essential to give us the strength, guidance, knowledge, and protection as we go into spiritual warfare every day. I am so thankful that my prayers are heard and answered.  He always hears and He always answers. Ask Him to guide you in whatever you need then wait, expectantly, for Him to answer you in your sweet hour of prayer. 

This week join Operation Christmas Child in praying for Romania.  5.4% of Romanians are Evangelical Christian. There are 23 different spoken languages in Romania. Stories of the hundreds of thousands of orphans and abandoned children in the 1990s broke the hearts of many. While this is still a great need, churches and missions do an increasingly good job caring for these young people, praise the Lord! The relevance of Christianity to youth is a challenge – this is more an issue of church culture and tradition than openness. Churched youth are often dedicated and effective in ministry. Unfortunately, most church programs are not attractive to unbelieving young people. Pray for effective programs and pastors who are willing and able to mobilize the youth into ministry, an area of ministry surprisingly lacking until now.

Specifically:
1. Pray for the regional volunteer leadership team. Pray they are able to find solutions to the challenges they are facing.
2. Pray The Greatest Journey discipleship program will have a great impact in Romania.
3. Pray for the children who have graduated from the program this year.

Give thanks to God for Alina and her story. We are thankful that she is now living in the USA instead of Romania and that God is using her story to touch lives!

NEA Requests:
1. Our 2015 goal of 10,200 - it's shoebox time!!!! Pray we will do abundantly more this year, in Jesus' Name!  National Collection Week is November 16-23.

2. All of the year-around volunteers to be rooted and strengthened as the season is quickly approaching.

3. Pray for the churches that are participating in packing shoeboxes, that they will have success and see good fruit in their efforts!

4. Hobby Lobby will be promoting OCC in their 700 stores nation-wide Labor Day through National Collection Week. Pray for God to multiply this effort.

5. Upward Sports is sending OCC promotional communication to the 625 churches that have a Fall Upward League.  Pray for this to multiply Gospel Opportunities (Shoeboxes).

6. War Room will send an OCC crafted and dedicated eblast to 7 million to promote National Collection Week. When the War Room releases on DVD, it will include at least one OCC/TGJ bonus feature. War Room was the #2 movie at the box office opening weekend and #1 the following (Labor Day) weekend. Praise God for the power of prayer!

7. Lifeway and 5 other bookstores will have Go Boxes and "How to Pack Your Shoebox Gift” brochures, and Jesus Loves Me musical lambs for purchase as a shoebox items this year!  Pray this produces abundantly more shoeboxes than we can imagine!

"But truly God has listened; he has attended to the voice of my prayer. Blessed be God, because he has not rejected my prayer or removed his steadfast love from me!" (Psalm 66:19, 20 ESV)

August OCC Prayer week 1

August 4 – 7, 2015 is the international Africa Connect Conference where over 170 volunteers will be traveling from across the region to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Pray that volunteers will come with open hearts to be encouraged and inspired to further the Gospel to children in their countries. Join us in prayer that God will: 

1. Encourage volunteers in their walk with the Lord and be equipped to do the work of the OCC ministry in 2015 & beyond.

2. Mobilize teams across the region to meet their 2016 distribution goals of 3.8 Million Gift Boxes and 1.2 Million TGJ.

3. Pray also for Conference Support Team.

4. Pray for Conference Speakers. 

A little History: This region has grown significantly in the last few years where over 25,664,505 Gospel Opportunities have been distributed, 1,274,601  children have participated in The Greatest Journey with over 587,358 reported decisions for Christ.

Our Regional Prayer Requests for OCC Mid-South are: 

1. Pray for God to provide new churches to partner with us as drop-off locations in 2015.

2. Continue to pray for God to call the right candidate to fill the role as Regional Manager in the Arkansas area.

3. Pray for the health of Mid-South volunteers. Many are dealing with serious health concerns.

4. Pray for Area Coordinators and Ministry Coordinators as they lead area teams and pray for unity among the teams.

5. Pray for the Mid-South Shoebox Goal of 737,500!!

6. August 5 - Quarterly Day of Prayer and Fasting - join us as we ask our Heavenly Father to work in the hearts of the children impacted by war, poverty, famine, disease, and exploitation that they may know Jesus.

NEA Area Team Prayer Requests:

1. NEA Goal 10,200 Shoeboxes

2. Saturday, September 10th, Alina Massey, from Romania, will be speaking at First Free Will Baptist Church in Jonesboro, 5407 Stadium Blvd, sharing her full-circle story!  Be in prayer for her and come hear how a simple shoebox gift made an eternal difference in her life!

Global OCC requests this week are to be in prayer for Burkina Faso and Cameroon.  Specific requests are below:

Burkina Faso

1. Pray for the political situation and a good end for the transition in Burkina Faso.

2.  Pray for a successful national volunteer leadership training this year.

3. Pray for the impact of the ministry in the three new regions.

Cameroon

1. Pray God will bring peace to Cameroon so that the country won’t be destabilized by outside forces who stop the advancement of the Kingdom of God.

Thank You for your prayers. 

Jennifer 

"The prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results" James 5:16

Operation Christmas Child 

Become an OCC Prayer Partner

Below is the link for becoming an Operation Christmas Child Prayer Partner sign up today!– spread the word J

http://www.samaritanspurse.org/occ-prayers/

Indonesia Operation Christmas Child

Praise God for the progress OCC has made in 2015. The rest of this week pray God will open doors for OCC to reach the unreached people groups in Indonesia.  Shoebox gifts collected in the United States in 2014 will be delivered to 79,286 children in Indonesia. Praise God that over 1,246,400 children have received a shoebox since 2000, when Operation Christmas Child began distributing gifts here.

• Indonesia has 253.6 million people and is located in Southeast Asia
• 26% of the population is 14 years old or younger

- Praise God for providing the financial resources needed to carry out the project in Indonesia.

- Praise God for the successful clearance of the containers and for  the boxes that are ready to be distributed.

- Praise God for the Teacher Trainer Trainings held in February. 

- Pray all of the participants will be encouraged and equipped fully to train more teachers. 

- Pray that more TDW training can be held and that OCC will be able to disciple more children as a result. (TDW is The Discipleship Workbook-same as The Greatest Journey but used in sensitive countries) 

- Pray for the completion of the sRLTs and RLTs. Pray God will open doors to establish teams in new areas and that He will send the right people to serve on these teams. 

- Pray for the existing sRLT and RLTs. (Regional Leadership Team)

- Pray God will equip them to accomplish their tasks well this season.

- Pray God provides more committed Ministry Partners who have a heart for children and want to support OCC full-heartedly.

"And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up." (Galatians 6:9 ESV)

OCC Samoa

Today will you join us in praying for Samoa?

Pray for the distributions and the Ministry Partners.

Pray for the development of the Regional Leadership Team. 

Pray they know their roles as the teams prepare for the nConnect. 

nConnect is a Volunteer National Connect Conference each country has similar to the Connect conference in the U.S. 

Thank You for praying for Samoa. 

OCC Malaysia

Today will you pray for OCC Malaysia?

* Praise God the government authorities approved the tax exoneration (relieved, as from an obligation) for the shoeboxes.

* Praise God for the successful Ministry Partner and TDW (The Discipleship Workbook (same as TGJ but used in sensitive countries) trainings over the past few months and for the teachers who were trained.

* Pray for the recruitment of the right candidates to fill the vacant positions on the National Leadership Team (NLT). 

* Pray the establishment of an interim committee and a future sRLT in the eastern region, to receive and distribute gift boxes this season. sRLT - Senior Regional Leadership Team (similar to Regional Area Coordinators in the U.S. as they oversee multiple Regional Teams. 

* Pray God will provide more volunteers to help the NLT in expanding the project with greater clarity and unity.

Thanks and have a wonderful Thursday! 

"For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them." (Matthew 18:20)

Global Day of Prayer

May 6th is the Global Day of Prayer and Fasting for Operation Christmas Child.  We want to have our NEA Team have a time of unified prayer time for each of our counties.  Wednesday May 6th, between 6-8am and 6-8pm we ask that you choose some time to be praying for Clay, Craighead, Greene, Lawrence, Mississippi, Poinsett, and Randolph Counties. 

Specifically:

1.   Pray that God will allow us to do abundantly more this year, our NEA goal is 10,200 boxes! 

2.  Pray for the Relay Centers and collection sites (I know National Collection Week it is not until November 16-23rd) but we want this to be the best collection year ever so more children will come to a saving knowledge of Jesus through the power of the shoebox and The Greatest Journey. 

3.  Pray for more people to have a passion for OCC and want to become year around volunteers.

4. Pray for more organizations and churches to start packing shoeboxes this year.

5. Pray for a volunteer - we  NEED a media team member or coordinator for NEA. 

6. Pray that every county will have a Church Relations team member. 

Unified prayer time:

6-6:05 Clay County

6:05-6:10 Craighead County

6:10-6:15 Green County

6:15-6:20 Lawrence County

6:20-6:25 Mississippi County

6:25-6:30 Poinsett County

6:30-6:35 Randolph County

Will you join us in praying for OCC & NEA OCC on May 6th? 

"For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” (Matthew 18:20)

MAY Prayers for OCC

As we are quickly approaching May, praise God for the families, all around the world who pack shoebox gifts and make this ministry possible. Praise God for the churches that have been planted and the people that have been saved by God’s work through Operation Christmas Child. Praise God for all of the international, national, regional, and local teams who work with Operation Christmas Child.  Pray that the millions of children participating in The Greatest Journey discipleship program would have a clear understanding of what a relationship with Christ means. Pray likewise that they discover how to share what they have learned and experienced with others. Praise God for our new country for Shoebox distribution--in November, OCC received the final signature needed to begin shoebox distributions in Recife, Brazil. Our teams have been working hard since February for the sea containers to be released but prayer is needed for the customs clearance process to be finalized. During May we will be praying for East Asia, specifically this week pray for China & Fiji.  Also lift up everyone in Nepal dealing with the aftermath of the earthquake. 

Let's unite in prayer that we open our ears and listen to the Holy Spirt and God's direction for our NEA team, for the U.S.A., , for our other sending nations and our receiving nations, so we can we rooted, do abundantly more boxes in 2015,  and follow His guidance for His Honor and Glory. 

"If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11:13 ESV)

OCC Panama

The week of praying for Ecuador and Panama is coming to a close so here is the last few requests from Panama. Pray for integration of the new teams in Panama. Shoebox gifts were first delivered to children in Panama in 1996. The National Leadership Team (NLT) consists of Elizabeth Medina as National Coordinator and Aidabeth de Gonzalez as Logistics Coordinator. The NLT has developed 13 Regional Leadership Teams that are instrumental in leading efforts in the different regions of the country. Praise God for His support and guidance. Pray for the development of new strategies for the projects and evangelism of Samaritan’s Purse in Panama.  Pray for the health and healing of the Logistics Coordinator. Pray for those who were involved in a special distribution event last month. Pray it will have a lasting impact on the distribution team members and the children who participated in it. Pray for the training events that will be held in Panama this year.

Pray for The Greatest Journey (TGJ) teachers; pray they will teach with love and that through their classes many children will place their trust in Jesus.  Thank your for praying for Panama and Ecuador this week. 

 

“We have to pray with our eyes on God, not on the difficulties.” ~ Oswald Chambers 

"This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. Save us, we pray, O Lord! O Lord, we pray, give us success!" (Psalm 118:24-25 ESV)

#OCCPrayer #OCC