We’re thankful for the resource providers who stand with us in generational discipleship. Enjoy this message from our friends at Samaritan’s Purse:
Receiving a gift-filled shoebox fills a child with joy. Operation Christmas Child has delivered over 232 million shoeboxes since 1993 in more than 170 countries and territories. The Gospel is shared with the children and millions of boys and girls learn about God’s Greatest Gift—Jesus Christ—the source of lasting joy and eternal hope. After receiving shoeboxes children are invited back for a 12 lesson discipleship program, The Greatest Journey, to learn more deeply that God loves them and can truly transform their lives.
My name is Vladimir Prokhnevskiy and I grew up in Ukraine in a family of nine children. In order to feed so many mouths my family survived on rice and potatoes all throughout my childhood. As third from the youngest, I wore hand-me-down clothes and shared the same pair of tennis shoes between several of my brothers, each of us taking turns wearing them outside to play. Even a simple toothbrush was a shared necessity between all of my siblings. My brothers and I often used the worn-out shoes and pretended they were cars, racing them around our small apartment.
Being very resourceful, my mom made clothes for the whole family from scrap cloths she could find. She would wash all the laundry by hand, scrubbing so hard with a large block of soap that her hands would crack and bleed.
Before the Soviet Union fell in 1991, my family experienced heavy persecution for our faith in Jesus Christ. My father was the pastor of an underground church that would meet in the middle of the night either out in the woods or in various apartments. The government was aware of his involvement, and would threaten to send him to Chernobyl to work on the nuclear reactor. Persecution continued even after the fall of communism. The culture taught that belief in God was a sign of weakness.
When I was nine years old, my family learned about a special Christmas event for low-income families. Together, my siblings and I made the long journey by riding the bus and then the tram in the middle of a harsh winter. I didn’t have warm clothes, but I was so excited I didn’t feel cold at all.
Stepping into the festive outreach event meant transitioning out of a black and white Ukrainian winter into a colorful room of joy and laughter. Welcoming smiles and joyful music filled the space as the Gospel was presented in engaging, child-friendly ways through songs, skits, pictures and even flannel boards. And at the very end, my siblings and I each received our very own Operation Christmas Child shoebox gift. This was the first gift I had ever received.
The bright colors covering each box caught my eye. Everything inside the box was just as colorful and brand new, including a large yo-yo, toy cars, school supplies and a toothbrush – a necessity my family couldn’t afford. But my favorite item in the shoebox gift was dental floss. I actually thought it was candy because it tasted so minty and good!
Best of all, my shoebox gift became to me an example of God’s unconditional love. In my culture, bribery was commonplace so a gift was rarely a gift because something was always expected in return. Most people only ever looked out for themselves, but my shoebox gift gave me hope that people could be loving and generous. This tangible expression of God’s love through an Operation Christmas Child shoebox gift helped me better understand God’s free gift of salvation.
In 2000, my family moved to the United States as Christian refugees. Today, I am passionate about bringing the Gospel to the ends of the earth. I love to pack shoebox gifts together with my wife and sons in order to share God’s unconditional love with children all around the world. Join me in bringing Good News and Great Joy to children around the world through Operation Christmas Child! Learn more about how you can get involved today by visiting www.samaritanspurse.org/occ
