Many of you have heard of Samaritan’s Purse ministry which sponsors the Operation Christmas Child program every year.  We pack shoe boxes of small gifts, toys, and necessities and they are shipped to underprivileged children in many countries around the world at Christmas time.  As the boxes are passed out to children, they are also given a meal and told about Jesus who loves them and died for them.  They see the love of Jesus in a real, tangible way.  We’ve been participating in this program for several years now, usually packing one to two boxes each year.  This year we did something a little different.

One of Kenny’s dear friends from school days, Olivia, has joined her mom in starting a non-profit, KinderBox International, for the sole purpose of packing large numbers of shoe boxes every year.  They buy and collect items year round, store them in their garage, and work on packing boxes year round.  This year they met their goal of 8,000 boxes.  Simply amazing.

So, instead of packing our two boxes with the kids and spending quite a bit on each box, we donated to our friends where the money can go so much further.  They can pack a box for a few dollars buying in bulk and being smart about what they include.  One Sunday afternoon we joined another family we love, the Cashells, and headed to our friend’s garage to help pack boxes.  It was wonderful.  They showed us a short video about families living in garbage dumps fighting each other for food or items they can sell for food. Once we talked to the kids about our purpose in packing boxes, we headed to the garage and together packed almost 70 boxes over the next hour.  All five kids were involved and thoroughly enjoyed being a part of it.

So, while packing a couple boxes is meaningful and still makes a difference in two kids’s lives, this process goes so much further.  In the future, we’ll be donating to KinderBox International and will spend time packing boxes in our friend’s garage.  Well done Olivia and Rosie!  Thank you for including our families in your amazing journey and ministry!