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The Samaritan’s Purse project Operation Christmas Child collects shoebox gifts filled with fun toys, school supplies and hygiene items — and delivers them to children in need around the world to demonstrate God’s love in a tangible way. For many of these children, the gift-filled shoebox is the first gift they have ever received. Since 1993, Operation Christmas Child, the world’s largest Christmas project of its kind, has collected and delivered more than 198 million shoebox gifts to children in more than 170 countries and territories. In 2022, Operation Christmas Child hopes to collect enough shoebox gifts to reach another 11 million children. This year, the project will collect its 200-millionth shoebox!
Monday, Aug. 15, from 6:30 to 8 p.m., Alex Nsengimana, a recipient of one of those shoeboxes, will speak at Valley Forge Free Will Baptist Church, 1503 Riverview Drive. Those attending will learn how gift-filled shoeboxes can make an eternal difference in the life of a child.
This event is for anyone who loves Operation Christmas Child or wants to learn more. Also, resources and tips will be available for project leaders.
Growing up in midst of an unstable Rwandan government, Alex Nsengimana experienced first-hand the tragedies of his nation’s genocide. At the height of tribal unrest, the genocide claimed the lives of his caregivers. Fleeing for his life, Alex escaped gunmen and eventually ended up in an orphanage that was his home for the next several years. He received a shoebox from Operation Christmas Child one year after arriving at the orphanage and remembers being so excited to have a gift to call his own. The shoebox gift sowed seeds of hope and love that he desperately needed. He realized that God had a specific plan for his life. Alex now serves with Operation Christmas Child paying forward the hope and love he received through a shoebox gift.
To find out more about how God protected and intervened in his life after surviving the Rwandan genocide, please join Operation Christmas Child for a special time of Alex telling his story of redemption and forgiveness.