Letter to the editor

Dear editor,
It’s Operation Christmas Child (OCC) Shoebox Time! It’s hard to believe that another year has passed by so quickly, but here we are just a few short days away from our 2017 annual Operation Christmas Child shoebox collection.
For the past ten years, First Baptist Church (FBC) has served as the OCC collection center for our area and, thanks to the support and generosity of so many of you, our total shoebox count has steadily increased each year.
Numbers are important, but this ministry is so much more than just counting boxes. Each gift-filled shoebox represents an opportunity for a child in a faraway place to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It’s an opportunity for a child suffering from extreme poverty, disease, war, terrorism and loneliness to experience the love of Christ; to receive a gift and know that a complete stranger thought enough to send a shoebox gift.
Two years ago, our responsibility as a collection center changed considerably. Instead of just being a collection center for our local area, Eastman FBC is now the central drop-off location for the South Central Georgia area, and as such, we not only receive the gift-filled boxes from our local community, but we also receive the shoeboxes from Cochran, Hawkinsville, Dublin and Soperton.
Once the OCC trailers are filled with cartons, they are transported directly to the Atlanta Processing Center. The total box count for our collection center last year was 14,560 boxes.
Along with this new responsibility come additional volunteer opportunities. If you’d be interested in donating some time, talents or muscles during collection week, Nov 13-20, 2017, or if you’d just like to learn a little more about Operation Christmas Child, drop by during collection week or give me a call at 478-893-4730. Thank you so much for your past and continued support of this special ministry; a ministry that touches and changes lives, both the receivers’ and the givers’.
Marilynn Sanders