{"id":101809,"date":"2019-01-08T15:28:28","date_gmt":"2019-01-08T20:28:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.samaritanspurse.org\/?p=101809"},"modified":"2019-01-31T15:47:54","modified_gmt":"2019-01-31T20:47:54","slug":"special-report-article-volunteer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.samaritanspurse.org\/es\/operation-christmas-child\/special-report-article-volunteer\/","title":{"rendered":"OCC Special Report – Feature Article – Volunteer"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n\r\n\r\n
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Operation Christmas Child<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t<\/a>\r\n\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t
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REPORTE ESPECIAL<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t<\/a>\r\n\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n
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The Joy of Volunteering<\/h1>\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
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Thank You, Volunteers!<\/h1>\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n\t
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C<\/span>ach child, family, and church who lovingly packs a shoebox gift plays a vital part in our worldwide effort to bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ to boys and girls around the world through the Samaritan\u2019s Purse Operation Christmas Child project.<\/p>\r\n\t\t\t

\u201cThank you, volunteers!\u201d said Franklin Graham, President, Samaritan\u2019s Purse. \u201cWe couldn\u2019t reach millions of children around the world each year without you!\u201d<\/p> \r\n\t\t\t

More than 73,000 project leaders across the country volunteer to coordinate their church\u2019s or group\u2019s shoebox packing and collecting. As these gift-filled shoeboxes are dropped off with prayer, several volunteer roles are needed to collect, transport, and inspect the gift boxes before they are sent to help local partners spread the Good News of the Gospel and great joy to children, their families, and their communities in more than 100 countries.<\/p>\r\n\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t

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\u201cWe couldn\u2019t reach millions of children around the world each year without you!\u201d
\u2014Franklin Graham
Presidente de Samaritan's Purse<\/span><\/p>\r\n\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n\t

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Renee Brinton of Shelby, North Carolina, said serving as a drop-off location volunteer at her church gave her a sense of this teamwork as the body of believers in Christ: \u201cEvery chance we have an opportunity to volunteer or give back, we need to, because we have been so blessed.\u201d <\/p>\r\n\t\t\t

More than 80,000 people volunteered at the nearly 5,000 drop-off locations open across the United States during National Collection Week, the third week in November.<\/p>\r\n\t\t\t

From drop-off locations, shoeboxes are transported to one of eight processing centers across the country where teams of volunteers inspect and prepare them for international shipping.<\/p>\r\n\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t

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Renee Brinton<\/p>\r\n\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n\t

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Volunteers travel from near and far to help process shoebox gifts, serving in teams to inspect each gift, scan any Follow Your Box labels, and package the shoeboxes into shipping cartons.<\/p>\r\n\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n\t

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Serving Together<\/h1>\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n\t
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At the processing center that is part of the Samaritan\u2019s Purse international headquarters in Boone, North Carolina, Judy Shoun of Zolfo Springs, Florida, likened her volunteering with Samaritan\u2019s Purse to seeing the body of Christ at work.<\/p>\r\n\t\t\t

\u201cEach member has its own part and depends on one another to do their part so the next piece fits,\u201d Judy said. \u201cAs one completes their part, another steps in whom God has gifted just for this purpose.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\t\t\t

Sherman Currin of Lillington, North Carolina, delighted in scanning Follow Your Box labels at the processing center as he placed inspected shoeboxes into cartons. The tracking labels make it possible for those who gave a $9 per shoebox donation online to find out the country destinations of their shoebox gifts.<\/p> \r\n\t\t\t

\u201cI\u2019m here to work for the Lord,\u201d Sherman said. He prays for the shoebox recipients to recognize and accept the true Source of the gifts. \u201cThese shoeboxes are sent to them through our Lord Jesus Christ,\u201d he said.<\/p> \r\n\t\t\t

After drop-off location and processing center volunteers give of their time seasonally, Operation Christmas Child depends on more than 9,000 volunteers who serve year-round to encourage others to participate in the project. Engaging in roles ranging from logistics to leadership, these volunteers promote shoebox packing when most people aren\u2019t thinking about Christmas, making it possible for millions of boxes to be collected each year.<\/p>\r\n\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t

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\u201cNow there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord.\u201d
\u20141 Corinthians 12:4-5 (ESV)<\/span><\/p>\r\n\t\t<\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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Year-Round Involvement<\/h1>\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n\t
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Diane Calvert, who volunteers her administrative skills year-round to our Operation Christmas Child West Coast regional office, is motivated by an eternal perspective. \u201cA shoebox does not just reach one child, it reaches a community and shows them the love of Jesus,\u201d she said.<\/p> \r\n\t\t\t

Jill Cobb of Mountain View, Missouri, also enjoys volunteering because of the project\u2019s Kingdom impact. \u201cMy passion is evangelism, and I [always] want to see one more person come to Jesus,\u201d said Jill, who serves as a year-round area coordinator.<\/p> \r\n\t\t\t

Jack Hatten, a year-round volunteer in community relations in south-central Ohio, shares that big-picture perspective. \u201cIt\u2019s more than just a shoebox of toys,\u201d he said. \u201cThe items are important because they mean a lot to the children who receive them. But it isn\u2019t about the goodies, it\u2019s about the Gospel.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t

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\u201cIt\u2019s more than just a shoebox \u2026 it\u2019s about the Gospel.\u201d
\u2014Jack Hatten<\/span><\/p>\r\n\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n\r\n\t\r\n\t

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Dianne Calvert, Administration<\/p>\r\n\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t<\/div>\r\n \t

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Jack Hatten, Community Relations<\/p>\r\n\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t

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Jill Cobb, Area Coordinator<\/p>\r\n\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n \t<\/div>\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n\t\r\n\t\r\n\t

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As millions of shoeboxes are shipped overseas each year, Operation Christmas Child volunteers in the United States hand off the baton to national and regional leadership teams in more than 100 countries. They train, develop, and coordinate partnerships with local churches year-round.<\/p>\r\n\t\t\t

These church volunteers distribute the gift-filled shoeboxes to boys and girls, sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ, God\u2019s Greatest Gift. Then, they invite them to learn more about Him through The Greatest Journey, our 12-lesson discipleship program for shoebox recipients.<\/p>\r\n\t\t\t

Additional volunteers from these churches teach The Greatest Journey to help the children learn how to follow Jesus and to share about Him with family and friends. <\/p>\r\n\t\t\t

This past year, more than 2 million children made decisions for Christ through The Greatest Journey! Praise God for how His Word is moving in the hearts of these little ones to seek repentance and salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ.<\/p>\r\n\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t

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Volunteers:<\/span> Ask the Lord to guide your participation in Operation Christmas Child during 2019, praying for church partners around the world as they share the Gospel with millions of children.<\/p>\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n\t

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Back to Special Report<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t<\/a>\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t

Operation Christmas Child is a project of Samaritan\u2019s Purse.<\/p> \r\n\t\t

\u00a9 Copyright 2019 Samaritan\u2019s Purse. All rights reserved.<\/p>\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"X Operation Christmas Child Special Report The Joy of Volunteering Thank You, Volunteers! Each child, family, and church who lovingly packs a shoebox gift plays a vital part in our worldwide effort to bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ to boys and girls around the world through the Samaritan\u2019s Purse Operation Christmas Child project. \u201cThank you, [&hellip","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-101809","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-operation-christmas-child","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.samaritanspurse.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101809","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.samaritanspurse.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.samaritanspurse.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.samaritanspurse.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.samaritanspurse.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=101809"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.samaritanspurse.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101809\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":102559,"href":"https:\/\/www.samaritanspurse.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101809\/revisions\/102559"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.samaritanspurse.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=101809"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.samaritanspurse.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=101809"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.samaritanspurse.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=101809"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}