Tom Michelsen
Have you ever wondered what it feels like to work at the North Pole? To experience the love that goes into creating and packing gifts for God’s special kids all over the world? Well, wonder no more. For the past several years, Robson Ranch residents have served together at our very own “North Pole” at the Operation Christmas Child headquarters in Coppell. For more information about this ministry or to learn how you can get involved next year, visit www.samaritanspurse.org/occ. The Samaritan’s Purse ministry, Operation Christmas Child, collects shoebox gifts — filled with fun toys, school supplies, and hygiene items — and delivers them to children in need all around the world to demonstrate God’s love in a tangible way. For many of these children, the shoebox gift is the first gift they have ever received. Since 1993, Operation Christmas Child has collected and delivered more than 168 million shoebox gifts to children in more than 160 countries. In 2019, Operation Christmas Child hopes to collect enough shoebox gifts to reach another 11 million children. Delivered into the hands of children through local churches, every shoebox gift is an opportunity to share about Jesus Christ and God’s love. But before the millions of shoebox gifts collected each year can bring hope and joy to children around the world, each one has to be carefully packed, inspected, and made ready for international shipment by volunteers like you! Steve and Kathy Bailey and a team of 13 others from Robson Ranch in Denton, TX completed a four-hour shift preparing and packing boxes for such a worthy cause.