You Never Know the Difference You Can Make

Sometimes a single act of kindness can change lives forever.

There’s been a lot of talk about Operation Christmas Child in my area lately. Many of our area churches and some of our schools have participated. The outreach is run by Samaritan’s Purse an organization run by Franklin Graham; yes, he’s Billy’s son. People are asked to pack a shoe box with toys and candy and toiletries like toothpaste and soap. They are then sent to needy children in over 150 countries, including the United States. The boxes are collected in twelve countries, the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Japan and Ireland, to name a few. The program began in 1993. More than 113 million boxes have been sent so far.

The goal is to “share God’s love with needy children in a tangible way.” They are hoping to distribute 10 million boxes this year alone. I love this Christmas outreach, but yesterday I came across a story involving Operation Christmas child that had me grabbing a tissue.

Back in 2000, a seven-year-old girl in the Philippines named Joana, received an Operation Christmas Child box at Vacation Bible School. From the box, she heard the Gospel for the first time and accepted Jesus as her savior. Her dad became a Christian soon after and then followed a calling to become a preacher. That’s some pretty awesome stuff from one little shoe box; but wait, it gets better.

The boy who sent the shoe box, put a picture of himself along with his name and address. Joana was so moved by how much her life had changed due to that little boy, that she wrote him, Tyrel, a letter. He never received it. She held onto the picture.

In November 2011, Joana decided to see if she could locate Tyrel on Facebook. She knew he lived in Idaho. She found a picture of a boy dressed similarly to the one in the picture and send a friend request. He accepted. For the next year, they visited on Facebook, even though they had to do it at specific times due to the time difference and they sent letters and pictures.

Tyrel began to save his money to go and visit. He had been on a mission trip overseas before, but never to Asia. Joana said once she saw his face,an amzing feeling came over her. About half-way through his ten-day trip, he asked her father in their language, if they could date. Her father agreed. When he returned home, he began saving for a return trip. This time he stayed a month and proposed through her father. Her very protective father, agreed.

They were married in Idaho, with all of his family present, in October. The wedding guests were asked to bring, shoe boxes filled with gifts. It was his mom’s idea. Are you crying yet?

We often feel like God doesn’t listen to our prayers. We often wonder if He’s working. We often wonder if we can make a difference. The answer is always yes. God always has a plan. A simple shoe box filled with gifts lead to new hearts for Jesus and then fourteen years later, a brand new love story. These newly weds took their time getting to know each other and they waited on God.

Advent is about waiting and this story is a beautiful example of the blessings that can come from it. It’s also a beautiful story of extending Christian kindness to strangers. We simply never know what God will do with it and where it may lead. Sharing hope is never in vain and waiting on God is always the best route. Sometimes we even get a real life, modern-day love story to prove it!

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂