Using a Shoebox to Share the Gospel with Our Kids (and change the world)

As a mom raising littles, we want our children to be kind, thoughtful, and generous—of course! But as a Christian mom, we also want to shape our precious rewards from God into mighty arrows. (Psalms 127:4-5) Serving together not only impacts our child personally, but shows them how God can use us to change lives across the world. 

Sometimes the opportunities to dig into hands-on ministry experiences with our kids seem out of reach, especially right now in this season of COVID. But I think we can make it much more complicated than need be. The opportunities to reach out are closer and easier than we think. Today I want to share how you can share the gospel with your kids and change the world all from your living room with a shoebox. 

Operation Christmas Child, a project of Samaritan’s Purse, has been sending shoeboxes filled with toys, school supplies, and hygiene items, to boys and girls around the world every year since 1993. Now, more than 178 million children in over 160 countries and territories have received a shoebox! Incredible! These simple gifts—and their follow-up discipleship program, The Greatest Journey—are powerful tools to share the Gospel with millions of people around the world.

It all starts with one person and an empty shoebox. 

Now more than ever, children need hope and joy found in Jesus Christ and your family can be a part of that! It is SO simple and such a fun way to engage our kids in ministry with us during this time. Here is how it works in just 3 easy steps:

1.     Just start with any standard-sized shoebox. It can be cardboard or plastic. 

I literally bought a 99 cent plastic shoe box from Target, but you can also just grab any shoebox you have at home!

2.     Fill it with fun toys, school supplies, and hygiene items.

This was SO easy! I took this list (suggested gift items) to Target and filled the plastic shoebox.

You can also include a photo and letter in the boxes you pack. Think of the child who will get to see the faces and hear the words of someone who packed a gift just for them! There’s even an “About Me” color sheet printable available to make this part extra fun for the kids.

3.     Once your shoeboxes are filled, use the Drop-off Locator Tool to find the nearest option to drop off your boxes during National Collection Week, Nov. 16-23, 2020.

Everyone in the family can join in from shopping to packing to praying for the child who will receive your shoebox gift. This is a powerful way to cultivate generous hearts in children as they learn how to make disciples of all nations at any age. (Matt. 28:19)

And here is a fun way to track the box:

When your shoebox gift is packed, you can go online to make a $9 per shoebox donation through “Follow Your Box” and receive a special shipping label. Over the coming weeks and months, you can use the look-up tool to enter the label’s code and discover the destination country of your shoebox gift. This is a fun way to keep conversations open with your kids throughout the year about giving, sending the Gospel, and equipping local ministry partners around the world who are about the work of making disciples. Just for fun, it also ties in great with lessons about geography and culture!

Long before the shoeboxes are opened, volunteer National Leadership Teams train local pastors and community leaders who want to share the message of the Gospel and bless children. The local leaders learn how to host child-friendly outreach events, where the children hear the Gospel and learn about how they can follow Jesus.  

Millions of the boys and girls who receive shoebox gifts are invited to participate in The Greatest Journey discipleship course, where they learn to faithfully follow Christ and share Him with others. Since 2009, 23.3 million children have enrolled in the 12-lesson course, and more than 11.2 million of these boys and girls have made a decision to accept Jesus as their Savior! 

Many are now praying for and sharing their faith with family and friends. As a result, new churches are even started and communities are being transformed. 

Here is just one of the thousands of incredible testimonies: 

Izabella McMillon grew up during the communistic regime in Romania when even attending a church could have resulted in death. Finding a hidden Bible in their home, McMillon and her brother began secretly attending church weekly. When she was 13 years old, McMillon received an Operation Christmas Child shoebox gift which included a very specific answer to a specific prayer. For her, the gift was life-changing, because it confirmed God’s existence and unconditional love. She finally understood that this God that she was reading about in the Bible cared for her. Since that day, McMillon has come to the United States and introduced the shoebox project to churches, schools, and her own children.


The journey of a simple shoebox gift begins with families, churches, and individuals, and results in evangelism, discipleship, and church planting. Join what God is doing, pack a shoebox gift, and send His love to the ends of the earth! Your kids will LOVE to do this! National Collection Week is Nov. 16–23, 2020. Visit samaritanspurse.org/occ for all the info!

XO,

Ruth

Disclosure: This post is in partnership with Samaritan’s Purse. All opinions are 100% my own.