Pure Joy

What brings joy to your life? For the ladies” group at Redwood Family Worship Center, filling boxes for Operation Christmas Child was a joy filled activity from start to finish. As the group gathered, they began to share the joy of shopping for items to fill the boxes. The great deals and creative gift purchases brought happiness to many individuals, but sharing it with others intensified the excitement even more.

Some stuffed toys were too fluffy to pack well, so soon the ladies were rolling up the bears and bunnies in stretch wrap. If you think a fluffy Teddy Bear brings joy,you have never met the Bear Ball - all the cuteness of bear eyes, ears and nose smiling at you through the transparent wrap!

As each box was filled, the ladies imagined the joy of the child opening the box in another part of the world - some place where school supplies would be a valuable treasure and where the cute red race car would be the first toy the child would receive. They prayed for the child who would receive the box, and the prayers were filled with contagious joy.

In addition to the gifts that fill the shoeboxes, there is also a $10 monetary donation that not only covers shipping costs but also pays for training, translation work and gospel materials that accompany the shoebox gift. One of the ways joy is lost is by trying to fill our emptiness with stuff. But the path back to joy comes when we see that our fullness is the path to bring joy to others. And the gifts and monetary donations humbly remind us of our abundance.

This was the first box-filling gathering of the season. They are four weeks to go and many churches and groups will be gathering to fill boxes. So grab a shoebox! Find a group! And share the joy!

On Sun, Sep 20, 2026 at 10:39 PM DavidErik Wilson <[email protected]> wrote:

Dear Phyllis, Here is an article and some photos of Operation Christmas Child”$ launch to our 2026 collection season.

Thanks,

David and Erika

Operation Christmas Child Starts 2026 Collection Season

Operation Christmas Child Del Norte County kicked off its 2026 with its Project Leaders Workshop on Sunday, September 20 hosted by First Baptist Church in Crescent City. Over the next 8 weeks local churches will be gathering supplies, hosting packing parties, filling shoeboxes and sharing the joy of sharing with children in other parts of this world.

This year, several more local churches have joined in. Faith Christian Center in Smith River, Pacific Light Church in Klamath, The River in Hiouchi, the House of Deliverance in the Bertsch Tract and Pan de Vida, the Spanish speaking congregation at Redwood Family Worship Center will be joining the twelves churches and ministries that contributed shoeboxes last year.

Local churches strive to make a difference both locally and globally, and Operation Christmas Child provides a clear, joyful and effective path for local churches to help children in over 100 countries in their physical, mental, emotional and spiritual development. The ministry, which is led by Franklin Graham and Samaritans Purse is very clearly focused on the message of salvation through Jesus Christ.

Each shoebox is filled with clothing, school supplies, hygiene items, toys and a $10 donation to cover shipping and program costs. Restricted items includes, liquids, toy guns, bar soap, Harry Potter, Pokémon and items which glorify war. Anyone in the community is welcome to share the joy by dropping off donations at a local participating church or at a collection box at Del Norte Office Supply or Les Schwab Tires. Businesses and community organization which would like to contribute or participate can contact Erika Wilson at 707-218-0336.