Confirmation students from Rejoice Lutheran Church in Clearwater took part in Operation Christmas Child Nov. 9, filling shoeboxes with gifts and messages of hope.

 

Operation Christmas Child is sponsored by Samaritan’s Purse, a Christian-based organization whose goal is to share the gospel and help people in need around the world. 

 

Shoeboxes are filled with toys, hygiene items and school supplies and shipped to children around the world. Many of these children have had to overcome the effects of poverty, disease, famine or war, and the shoeboxes bring joy and hope to those who receive them.

 

Youth at Rejoice have participated in Operation Christmas Child for a number of years. Congregation members donated shoeboxes, supplies and money in the weeks leading up to the project. Students then picked out the gifts to pack the shoeboxes with. 

 

Along with the gifts, each box included a handwritten message from the confirmation youth.

 

The boxes were dropped off at a local collection point and will be shipped around the world in time for Christmas.

 

For more information on Operation Christmas Child, visit samaritanspurse.org.