It is almost National Collection Week for Operation Christmas Child!

Drop of locations in your area: FIND MY DROP-OFF LOCATION

May these shoebox stories from years past, to make your heart smile! 

Your gift-filled shoeboxes are tangible expressions of God’s love for children around the world suffering from poverty, natural disasters, war, disease and famine. These children, many of whom have never received a gift before, learn they are loved and not forgotten. Since 1993, Operation Christmas Child has collected and delivered more than 157 million gift-filled shoeboxes to children in more than 150 countries and territories around the world. Since 2009, more than 14.9 million children who have received a shoebox gift have participated in The Greatest Journey - our 12 lesson discipleship program where they learn what it means to follow Jesus and share their faith with friends and family.

If you need a little motivation as to what and why to put certain things in your shoebox, check out my video from back in 2016! YOU CANNOT PUT TOOTHPASTE OR CANDY THIS YEAR! 

In 2018, Operation Christmas Child, the world's largest Christmas Project of its kind, hopes to collect enough shoebox gifts to reach another 11 million children in more than 100 countries! Pack yours today or build one online: Build-a-box-online-for$25

Click here for: SHOEBOX PACKING TIPS

January 1-14, 2017 Operation Christmas Child Prayer South America week 1 & 2

Prayer Reminders

Prayer is what opens the heart of a child to the redemption available through the blood of Jesus. Franklin Graham says, “The most important item you can send in a shoebox is prayer.” Faithful prayers are what allows the journey to accomplish its intended purpose. What a glorious opportunity we have to participate in his plan.

                                See our new OCC Prayer Video and share it with your friends.

This month we are praying for South America

General Prayer Requests each country faces:

·            Wisdom to recruit, select, and lead new and/or transitioning volunteer leadership team members.

·            Provision of resources and the person who leads this area so they are able to reach their God-sized goals for the current year.

MID-SOUTH PRAYER REQUESTS:

·              Pray for the new Mid-South Regional Director Todd Edwards as he transitions to the region January 3rd.

·              Praise God for the many gospel opportunities that He blessed our region with in 2016!

·              Pray for Godly wisdom for Mid-South staff and Area Coordinators as they begin planning for 2017.

·              Please continue to pray for prospective volunteers who are showing interests in serving with OCC on their local Area Teams as year-round Connect volunteers.

·              Pray for all National Leadership Teams as they begin receiving and distributing shoeboxes.

·              Pray for the many children who will receive shoeboxes and as they have the opportunity to attend The Greatest Journey.

NEA Prayer Requests:

• Pray for our area team as Vicki Pepper, our Regional Manager, as she will be helping our Area Team until we have a new Area Coordinator. 
• Pray for Melinda Dixon and her mom as she is healing. Pray for blessing on Melinda as she is a care giver for her mom and as her work load increases - she had to resign, with heavy heart as our AC and will be greatly missed.

PRAISE ITEMS:

1. Millions of shoebox gifts packed by prayerful donors are on their way to children in over 100 countries. God has allowed Operation Christmas Child to reach more children this year than any previous year with the precious gift of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 
2. Praise God for the 11 countries that have already received their 2016 season shoeboxes and for the volunteer teams now working hard in Outreach Events to share the Good News with over 200,000 children. 
3. Pray for the over 6 million shoeboxes on the way to children in 43 countries 
4. Prayer is what opens the heart of a child to the redemption available through the blood of Jesus. Franklin Graham says, “The most important item you can send in a shoebox is prayer.” Faithful prayers are what allows the journey to accomplish its intended purpose. What a glorious opportunity we have to participate in his plan.

Argentina

Argentina OCC

·         Praise God for the completion of the volunteer National Leadership Team this year.

·         Pray for the children enrolled in The Greatest Journey in the cities of Buenos Aires and Corrientes to grow in discipleship. 

Bolivia

·         Praise God for the honor of preparing pastors and teachers, as well as mobilizing churches, for the spiritual formation of the new generations that will come to know God the Father.

·         Pray that in this season, God will open the doors to reach new unreached communities where the Gospel has previously been inaccessible. 

Bolivia OCC - The Greatest Gift Book

Brazil

·         Pray for an opening in the bureaucratic process to allow the importation of shoeboxes in the future.

·         Pray for wisdom for the volunteer team in the city of Recife as they plan for future seasons.

·         Pray for the contacts that will be made with new churches and ministries in the Northeast of Brazil for this year. 

Chile

·         Praise God for the more than 5,000 children who received Christ in 2016. 

Colombia

·         Pray for the vision castings, as well as the Ministry Partner and The Greatest Journey trainings that occurred throughout the various regions in Colombia for greater effectiveness. 

Ecuador OCC

Ecuador

·         Praise God for the largest and most effective national volunteer conference in the country held recently.

·         Praise God for the provision of various gift-in-kind donations for storage of the OCC materials.

·         Pray for wisdom in navigating the government bureaucracy that comes with managing a large amount of boxes in the country.

Operation Christmas Child Prayer - April 2016

Operation Christmas Child Prayer Reminders:

• Praise God for the 49 countries that have received shoeboxes and volunteer teams are now working hard in Outreach Events to share the Good News with over 7M children.
• Pray for the shoeboxes still in route on ships to children in 8 countries.
• Pray for tax exemption of shoeboxes in six countries in East and South Asia and Madagascar.
• Pray for customs clearance of sea containers filled with shoebox Gospel Opportunities in 12 countries.

OCC Mid-South Prayer Requests

• Please pray for the 2016 recommitment of Mid-South volunteers. Pray that all volunteers will prayerfully consider their continued partnership with the ministry.
• Pray for God to open doors with new churches to partner with us as drop-off locations this year.
• Pray for Franklin Graham and the Decision America Tour as it will be making a stop in Little Rock, AR on April 12th.
• Please continue to pray for the Connect conferences that will be taking place in San Francisco April 7-9 and in Atlanta April 28 – 30.
• Pray for OCC Leadership as they are very busy with Connect conferences and leading ministry.
• Pray for all Connect volunteers in Tennessee this month. For God to continue to use them to move the ministry of OCC forward in the state of Tennessee. Pray for God to open doors with churches and community groups were they have never heard of OCC. Pray for unity among all Tennessee area teams, pray that God would strengthen them, encourage them and protect them. Pray for our Tennessee Area Coordinators as they lead area teams.

OCC NEA Prayer Requests:

• Growth of our team in 2016
• Our 2016 NEA GOAL: 11,222 Gospel Opportunities!!!!! 
• 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 
• Pray for those of us going to Atlanta Connect at the end of this month

Turning“Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”(Matthew 18:3)

We would all like to have child-like faith. Remember when you first accepted Jesus as your Savior? Your heart was completely washed clean and you had never felt like that before.

There is a freedom in children. They laugh loudly, are in awe of their surroundings, and enjoy the simplest things. Teaching children is like dipping a sponge in a bucket of water. They soak up what you say and immediately try to put it into practice.

There’s a recently released Christian song with one line that captures this idea, “May we never lose our wonder.” Isn’t that a major aspect of what Jesus means when He says, “turn and become like children?” When we abide in Him and His words abide in us, our hearts stay tender before Him. Regardless of our circumstances, that abiding relationship sparks within us a wonder at His goodness, His faithfulness, His loving kindness, His compassion and whatever we need from Him today. When we turn toward Him in wide-eyed wonder, it keeps our hearts soft. We can hear Him more clearly causing us to more fully obey what He says.

God is moved by our child-like prayers to touch the heart of a young girl or boy in another country with the Gospel. May those prayers continually be upon our lips.


Middle East, North Africa (MENA) and India Spiritual Impact Story Eurasia Sensitive Country: My name is Kajol Patro from a town in Asia. I am the eldest daughter among four. My parents work as a day labor in the tea garden and therefore we are an extremely poor as a family. Due to this extreme poverty, my parents sent me to the capital city to work as a maid servant in my childhood. Since I was working as a maid servant, I wasn’t getting proper wages or gifts from the owner’s. As a result, I was very sad with my parents. I could not figure out, why they had sent me to work as house maid in my early days, knowing that I will not have formal schooling and belong to my own family. I am a girl from a Hindu Family, but now I have received Jesus in my life and getting gifts abundantly. My family could not believe that anyone can give me such a beautiful gift. With this gift I realize that, I am not a deprived child and I am equally important to God moreover Jesus loves me. Today I am able to eradicate my sadness by means of Jesus. I would like to thank from the bottom of my heart to all the kids who have presented me with such a wonderful gift this Christmas.

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.

India:

Operation Christmas Child - India 2013

• Pray God will use the teams in India to fulfill His will. Pray the teams remain committed and open to serving Him.  
• Pray for wisdom for leadership.

MENA (Middle East – North Africa) - Sensitive Country

• Pray for the early arrival of the shoebox gifts. 
• Pray for the selection of areas for Outreach Events. 
• Pray for the safe storage of the shoeboxes.

MENA- Sensitive Country

• Pray for the upcoming outreach events that will be held in unreached villages.  
• Pray for the safety of the team in light of the political and security instability in the country. 

Paraguay & Peru

This week we are asking our OCC Prayer Warriors to pray for Paraguay and Peru in South America. Paraguay is west of Brazil and only 6% Evangelical. Peru is 11% Evangelical and on the west coast of South America. Also be praying for our goal of 10,200 for NEA - that we will be able to do abundantly more this year!  Also pray that our team will be rooted and strengthened. 

"So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness." (Colossians 2:6-7 NIV)

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