Although the holiday season is not yet in full swing, two Fulton residents are preparing to spread holiday joy to children living in poverty or affected by war and disease overseas.
Tim and Paula Flint have been volunteering to collect gift-filled shoe boxes for seven years as regional collection center coordinators for Operation Christmas Child, an international Christian relief project of Samaritan's Purse.
"It's just a really great ministry if you're looking to do mission work... something that really gets the gospel out around the world," Tim Flint said. "I think this is the best way because you don't have to pay a lot of money to go on a mission field. You can just do mission work here."
The couple are one example of the many residents from across mid-Missouri that are banding together Nov. 16 - 23 for national collection week to pack gifts of hope for children ages 2 - 14 who may have never received one before.
Flint said those interested in donating gifts should wrap the top and bottom of standard-size shoe box separately and fill the box with items such as personal hygiene products, school supplies and fun toys. He suggests tooth paste, toothbrushes, soap, washcloths, generic T-shirts, socks and hair brushes and hair accessories for general donation items. Flint also recommends little toys like a yo-yo, Slinky, deflated soccer balls, mini toy cars, small dolls and mini games.
"A lot of these kids are in orphanages," Flint said. "Orphanages around the world don't really have anyone that cares about them too much, so if they can get something personal like a Beanie Baby or a stuffed animal, it really is something they keep with them for the rest of their life. We've heard of stories that had these when they were growing up and still have them."
Flint also encourages people to include a photo of themselves, a note of encouragement and a self-addressed stamped envelope in the box in case the child recipient writes back.
The main collection location for the region is the Millersburg Baptist Church, with the closest local drop-off site being the First Baptist Church in Fulton. On Monday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Millersburg Baptist Church, Tim, Paula and other volunteers will load all the shoe boxes received from other local collection sites into trucks that will head to the distribution center in Denver, Co., where volunteers will search the boxes for hazardous or not accepted items.
"A lot of the gifts go to children where there's a lot of guerrilla warfare, so they don't want any toy knives or toy guns," Flint said. "They'll take those things out, and if maybe somebody didn't get enough things in there, they have items that they put in there to fill the box up."
From Denver, gifts from the Fulton area will travel by plane to children in Mexico. The project sends gifts to different countries every year, Flint said.
According to Samaritan's Purse, the project has delivered shoebox gifts to more than 124 million children in over 150 countries and territories since 1993. This year, project coordinators hope to receive enough shoe box gifts to bring joy to more than 11 million children.
"We're expecting to probably collect an excess of 10,000 boxes this year for mid-Missouri," Flint said. "Last year, it was around 9,500, but this year we're ahead of schedule. I know we'll be over 10,000."
He said Grandview Christian Church, a congregation with 90 people in Centralia, has already collected 700 boxes this year.
"There's some people who are getting really excited about this," Flint said.
Children will receive booklets written in their native language titled "God's Greatest Gift" that present the gospel in addition to the gifts in their shoe box. They're also invited to join a 4-week-long discipleship program with their families to accept Jesus Christ into their lives, Flint said.
Donors can pack a personalized shoe box gift on the Samaritan's Purse website by selecting toys and gift items and can also include a personalized note of encouragement for the child.
Although it's the organization's national collection week, volunteers collect shoe box gifts year-round at the Samaritan's Purse headquarters in Boone, N.C.
Shoe boxes can be tracked across the world to the gift recipient by using the online donation form at samaritanpurse.org/occ.
"We have so much to be thankful for here in America," Operation Christmas Child Regional Director Joe Christian said. "Most of us have a roof over our heads, beds with pillows to sleep on, and food on our table. But for many children living overseas, tough living conditions and extreme poverty have left them with little hope. It is amazing to see the joy on children's faces when they receive these gifts. It can be a tangible reminder that they are loved and not forgotten, despite their difficult circumstances."