We have been studying missions and countries around the world this semester at King’s Daughters, our twice a month girls’ ministry. (www.sealesisters.org/ kings_d_home) I had come across a notebook at a resale shop at some point last spring and became super excited to use it as a launching for the curriculum I am putting together and calling “Pray 4 Kids”. We’ve been talking about the environment and culture children around the world live in, eating some of their food, playing some of their games and making crafts specific to their country; learning more about them so that we can learn more about how we can pray for them. The notebook I found was written by Franklin Graham, president of the “Samaritan’s Purse” organization. It’s a prayer journal and he asks that we pray for these children that we’re learning about. But this Christmas I challenged our girls to become more involved. We decided to participate in “Operation Christmas Child”. This is a ministry branching out from the Samaritan’s Purse organization. Their focus is to deliver gift-filled shoe boxes and Christian literature to millions of children around the world each year. I thought it would be a huge thing for us, as the King’s Daughters club to come together and be able to send shoe boxes this Christmas with Operation Christmas Child to help make a difference in some child’s life. So last Tuesday we did just that. The girls had been collecting shoeboxes and items to fill the boxes for several weeks and during our meeting this past Tuesday we turned on the Christmas music, pulled out the wrapping paper and construction paper and prepared boxes for children around the world. That in itself for me was a beautiful thing... just seeing 13 girls' happy faces as they packed gifts and wrote cards for a child who needed a merrier Christmas. But the most precious thing was, just before we began, I gave instructions and then asked if we could all pray for what we were about to do. Pray for the boxes; pray for the OCC organization; pray for the children who would receive the boxes; pray that God would use us to bless other precious little ones. Thirteen little girls bowed their heads and a few of them volunteered to pray. My own throat was constricted with emotion. I am so grateful to live in a country and in a family where we can celebrate Jesus and His birthday. I am so thankful that I know about Jesus and I so want to be used to share Him. We all wanted each box to meet the needs of each child who recieved them and for them to see Jesus' love through ours. That was our prayer and still is.
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