Conway pastor sees impact of Operation Christmas Child
Ken Wilson, pastor of Fellowship Bible Church in Conway, has experienced the impact of Operation Christmas Child not only in his community, but in communities thousands of miles away. Although his wife, Dawn Wilson, has been coordinating the project with their church for years, it was not until he went on a mission trip this past winter that Wilson saw first-hand the power a single shoe box can have.
Wilson traveled to Poland, Ukraine and Afghanistan in January 2007 to encourage the missionaries supported by his congregation. Unexpectedly, he was the one who left encouraged.
While in Poland, Wilson met with missionaries Greg and Heidi Carlson who reach out to Eastern European youth. He soon discovered that the missionaries were involved in Operation Christmas Child. The Polish church serves as distributors of the shoe boxes, working to personally deliver gifts to hundreds of hurting kids in their area.
"The local churches love the shoe boxes because it gives them an opportunity to reach their city," said Wilson. "The boxes open the doors to many with whom they can develop relationships."
As Wilson traveled east, signs of the project continued to emerge. In L'viv, Ukraine, Wilson stayed with a family whose children had received boxes. While in Afghanistan, Wilson witnessed kids walking the streets holding their shoe box gifts, and two of the homes where he stayed had Operation Christmas Child posters hanging on the walls.
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"After collecting boxes in our church over the past four years, it was a soul-moving blessing to see the impact of Operation Christmas Child on the other side of the world," said Wilson.
After the rewarding journey overseas, Wilson and his wife are eager to see how many shoe boxes Conway community members can collect this year to send to children around the world- children like so many of these that Wilson encountered on his journey.
Local Collection Sites:
Fellowship Bible Church 1051 Hogan Lane Road, Conway, AR 72034, 327-3444
Southwest Christian Academy, 11301 Geyer Springs Road, Little Rock, AR 72209, 565-3276
Immanuel Baptist Church, 501 N. Shackleford Road, Little Rock, AR 72211, 376-3071
Since 1993, Operation Christmas Child, a project of international Christian relief organization Samaritan's Purse, has hand-delivered more than 54 million gift-filled shoe boxes to needy children in some 120 countries.
For more information on how to participate in Operation Christmas Child, call (615) 309-6013 or visit www.samaritanspurse.org. National Collection Week is Nov. 12-19. Gift-filled shoe boxes can also be mailed year-round to Samaritan's Purse Headquarters, 801 Bamboo Road, Boone, N.C. 2860