Local news

Area church packages over 100 shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child

Season of giving

BLANCHARD -- Liberty Baptist Church in Blanchard has been filling and providing shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child for several years now. The congregation provides donations all year long in preparation for filling the shoe boxes that are then given to Samaritans' Purse during its national collection week held each year in mid-November.

This year the church was able to fill 128 boxes. Last year the congregation filled 140 boxes, a record the church will strive to match or exceed next year.

When it comes to filling the boxes, the members gather to "make a party out of it," enjoying pizza and punch before setting to work packing each of the boxes to its fullest with personal hygiene items, school supplies, clothing and toys that will become treasures to children ranging between the ages of 2-14.

Beginning in January and throughout each month of the year, the congregation is given a list of items that can be donated and brought to the church during the year. January was the month to donate wash cloths, combs and hair accessories. Subsequent months were designated to bring coloring books and crayons, tooth brushes and socks while August was the month scheduled for the congregation to bring in school supplies.

According to Peg Martin, "the church holds a chicken and waffles dinner each fall with the cost of the meal being a free-will donation to cover the cost of shipping each shoe box. This year the cost to ship a box is $9. The church served 185 meals during the Oct. 29 dinner that garnered more than $1,800 -- enough to pay the shipping on numerous shoe boxes and to also purchase several items that the pastor's wife calls 'wow gifts.'"

"This year our Shoe Box Committee purchased solar radios with USB ports as one of the "wow gifts" because we recently learned from an author of Proverbs 31 Ministries who had received a radio like this one as a child in Russia. Now an adult living in the United States, the young woman told of how her family and her neighbors would gather daily to listen to Christian radio stations on her radio to learn about God's love," said Greta Davis, wife of Liberty Baptist's Pastor Chris Davis. "The chicken and waffles dinner money is also used to purchase items that we may not have had enough donations for packing the shoe boxes. Our committee members also watch for sales during the year and will buy things that fit into the age groups of the children who will receive the shoe boxes."

Operation Christmas Child has three age groups for both boys and girls -- ages 2-4; 5-9 and 10-14.

Kelly Baney, a church member who loves to gift wrap presents for her family and friends, volunteers each year to wrap the boxes and lids in Christmas paper so they are ready for the packing party.

In addition to the brightly colored items that fill each box, a short hand-written note along with a photo of the congregation taken in front of the church was taped to the inside of the lid so the child who opens the box will know their box was packed with love and prayers from a small-town church in central Pennsylvania who uses Operation Christmas Child as a way to spread the Gospel and Christ's love all around the world.

Crystal Haagen lives in Snydertown near Howard and is a member of the Trinity Reformed Church in Hublersburg. She loves the Lord and wants others to know of his mercy and goodness. Crystal always wanted to do mission work and centered her attention locally on the youth at her church. One day she mentioned to her parents, Tom and Norma Galbraith, owners of the former Country Corners Restaurant and ice cream stand in Blanchard, that she was looking for a mission's project for the youth.

Crystal spent nearly every day with her parents taking orders and serving customers when the restaurant was open for business. Her dad showed her an article about packing shoe boxes for children so that they would hear about Jesus. Crystal called the Samaritan's Purse headquarters in Charlotte, N.C. to ask about the program. It was already early in November with only a few weeks until the annual collection week so she told the representative on the phone that her group could only pack a few boxes. Still, to this day, Crystal vividly remembers the words that the lady told her.

"Honey, if you only pack one box that means that a child will get to hear about Jesus," she said.

Crystal brought the idea before her youth group and others at her church and they prayed that God would bless their efforts. That first year they packed 26 boxes and each year they've increased the number. This past year the congregation packed over 200 boxes.

Crystal has built shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child for 17 years, and she has been on the Central Pennsylvania Collection Team for16 years. For 15 years she has been the area coordinator for the region which encompasses Renovo, Lock Haven, Bellefonte, State College, Spring Mills and all the little towns and communities that span this area.

"I have a great team of volunteers who will accept the boxes and get them to my Hublersburg church. The boxes collected from our area are then taken by big trucks to the processing center in Baltimore, Maryland. I have taken our youth to this processing center as well as to the one in Charlotte, North Carolina so they can experience the project more fully," said Crystal.

The processing centers are where each box is checked for items that are not permitted… items like knives, toy guns or soldiers and liquids to name a few. If anything has to be removed from a box it is replaced with an acceptable item so that the box is as full as it can possibly be packed.

From processing, the shoe boxes are then shipped by sea crates and airplanes to countries all over the world where Samaritan's Purse works with teams to distribute the boxes to children in need. Often the box may be the only gift a child receives during their young lives. Some children have dealt with malnutrition, earthquakes, hurricanes, and war-related troubles in their every day life.

From packing shoe boxes with her own children, grandchildren and her youth group, to being the coordinator of the local teams, to working at the processing centers, Crystal devotes her time whole-heartily to supporting Operation Christmas Child. She has spoken at churches, groups and clubs to encourage others to pack shoe boxes, an effort that she continues all year long. However, there was one phase of the project that Crystal had not yet taken part in, and that was to actually hand a shoe box to a child.

"That all changed after the death of my mother in 2007, when I took my first mission's trip to Peru and personally handed out shoe boxes and was able to see firsthand the impact the gifts made on the children. I was able to take another trip to the Ukraine in 2018 shortly after my father passed away. I believe the children at the school were a bit frightened of us because of the wars raging in their region, but they soon warmed up to the interpreters and us as they were told The Christmas Story about the baby Jesus," reminisced Crystal.

"There were two little boys who were brothers that had been brought by their mother who offered her beautiful smile to me as she sat down beside me. As we handed out the boxes, all of the children's eyes were big, and after each child had received their box, we counted to three and then they opened their Christmas shoe boxes. I watched these two little boys as they dug through their boxes and found tooth brushes. You should have seen their smiles as they looked to their mother. It's the simple things (that we take for granted) that they were the most grateful for and excited about," Crystal said.

Crystal continues to keep in touch with many of the missionary teams and interpreters abroad that she worked with on those trips to Peru and the Ukraine.

"I am so blessed and I have so many wonderful memories of packing shoe boxes and from my trips. I want to give honor and glory to God for allowing me to be a part of Operation Christmas Child so that children (and their families) around the world may know Him," added Crystal.

Even though the national collection week is past and Christmas is just days away, Crystal is always available to speak with others -- whether it be churches, clubs, or individuals -- throughout the year about packing shoe boxes and what a rewarding experience she's had with this program. She can be reached at 814-383-4719.

Shoe boxes can be packed online at any time during the year by visiting www.samaritanspurse.org.