Operation Christmas Child links DI with African community

OCC packing party on DI to be held Nov. 4

There are more than 7,500 miles between Jinja, Uganda and Daniel Island. But thanks to Operation Christmas Child (OCC), a global mission of Samaritan’s Purse that provides shoeboxes full of gifts to children in need, communities in both places are now connected through a special bond.

Samuel Magumba knows firsthand how much OCC shoeboxes can mean to children on the other side of the world. Because he has witnessed their faces as they open them. Magumba, pastor at Faith Community United Methodist Church in Jinja, has been a senior regional coordinator for OCC in his region since 2010. Daniel Islanders have packed shoeboxes that have traveled to his country (Uganda received some 400,000 shoeboxes last year through the global OCC program).

Recently, Magumba and his wife, Prossy, were hosted on Daniel Island by the family of island resident Jennifer Roberts, the regional area coordinator of the OCC program. They shared some of their insights about OCC with The Daniel Island News over lunch at Honeycomb Café.

“In the first place, children are getting things they have never seen before in life,” said Magumba, in discussing the impact OCC shoeboxes have on children in his community. “Traditionally, in our culture, when you are living in the rural (areas), it is not common for parents to buy gifts for their children. We grew up not knowing about gifts because it was not something we could really see from our parents…It kind of opens their eyes to know that somebody, somewhere, loves them, cares for them.”

But those gifts can also offer critical support, added Magumba, who shared a story about a carpenter and a special shoebox that not only helped meet an important family need, but also strengthened their faith.

“For some time, he wanted some kind of tools to help him do his job,” said Magumba. “But he could not afford to get those tools…Now it happened that in one of the distributions we had been making, his child got a box. And when they went home to open the box, it was to their surprise that this box had these tools that this parent desired!...So to them, it was God answering their need.”

In fact, the Christian faith is the driving force behind the OCC mission.

“The goal is not just to give the box,” Magumba continued, “but to make a discipleship program in the lives of the children who receive them – to develop a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, and also to encourage these children to share the Gospel with their fellow children in the community.”

Pastor Magumba has watched the number of shoebox recipients in his community in Uganda surge exponentially year after year. When he first started serving as an OCC coordinator in his region seven years ago, they served 2000 children. In 2011, it jumped to 5,000.

“When we had that number it was like an explosion,” he said. “Then, the following year, as we were expanding, we had 15,000 children. The numbers have been growing and growing and growing.”

So much so, in fact, that Magumba is also working on expanding a local residential educational facility he and his ministry partners have created called Greater Love Nursery and Primary School, which targets vulnerable and abandoned children in the community - and also serves as an OCC distribution site. The program has boosted the number of students at the school, bringing enrollment up to 500.

“We have really seen a large impact happening through the ministry of OCC,” he added. “Churches are growing, families are changing, schools are developing, and a number of people in ministries in Uganda have been able to make partnerships with some of the people here. Because in the shoebox, when people are packing the boxes, they put small notes in and they ask people ‘when you receive this box, write back to me.’ So through that communication, a number of churches and families have been able to get friends here and they are supporting them as a result of the shoebox.”

Roberts helped Magumba and his wife make more connections to spread the word about their Greater Love School, and the OCC program, during their visit to Daniel Island and the Charleston region. The school has launched a “5000-100” campaign in hopes of finding 5,000 people who are willing to make a $100 donation to the facility (for more information, visit www.greaterloveuganda.org).

In the meantime, OCC of Charleston and Colleton Counties is hoping to make this another banner year in terms of shoebox goals. An OCC packing party for Daniel Island is planned for Saturday, Nov. 4, beginning at 10 a.m. at Holy Cross Church, located at 299 Seven Farms Drive. A variety of filler items are needed to help make the shoeboxes, including small toys and stuffed animals, toiletries, socks, hats, and more. For a complete list of acceptable donations for the boxes, visit https://www.samaritanspurse.org/operation-christmas-child/what-goes-in-m... suggestions/. Drop off locations for filler items have been set up at Honeycomb Café, SunTrust Bank, and Sandy’s Cleaners on Daniel Island.

Daniel Island resident Jenny Hartzog is the OCC area coordinator for the Charleston region. She hopes the community makes the upcoming packing party a family affair.

“I would just encourage people to involve their children,” she said. “It’s just so meaningful. And what a wonderful way to teach your children to give back by involving them in picking the items out and bringing them to the packing party – and letting them help pack a box.”

Roberts is confident Daniel Island residents and businesses will once again lend a helping hand.

“This is our fifth annual packing party on the island,” she said. “The community has always come through…It doesn’t matter how big or small a donation is, all of them, once collected, definitely add up.”

Last year, more than 30,841 OCC shoeboxes were created in the Charleston/Colleton County area. Some 500 of those were made right here on Daniel Island.

“They go all over the world to over 100 countries,” Roberts added. “The ones from Charleston, they are taken up to Charlotte, where they are processed, packaged and ready to go out to the different countries. And then they come right back here to the Wando Terminal (to be shipped off). A large majority of ours go to Africa, Eastern Europe, and South America.”

And in Jinja, Uganda, Pastor Magumba, his fellow parishioners, and the thousands of children they serve will be waiting with open arms.

For more information about OCC or the upcoming Daniel Island packing party, please contact Roberts at jcsroberts@yahoo.com or Hartzog at jthartzog71@gmail.com.

To volunteer to help, visit http://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f0945acad2ca31-2017.

OPERATION CHRISTMAS CHILD
Daniel Island Packing Party!
Saturday, Nov. 4, 10 a.m.
Church of the Holy Cross
299 Seven Farms Drive, Daniel Island

Where can you drop off filler items?
• SunTrust Bank
• Honeycomb Café
• Sandy’s Cleaners
• Or bring to church on day of event

What types of donations are needed?
• “Wow” items – stuffed animals, soccer balls with pumps, outfits, etc.
• Personal care items – hairbrush, soap, blanket, etc.
• Arts and crafts – coloring book, watercolor set, pencils, crayons.
• Small toys

For a list of acceptable items,
visit https://www.samaritanspurse.org/operation-christmas-child/what-goes-in-m....

How do I volunteer to help at the packing party?
Visit http://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f0945acad2ca31-2017.

Daniel Island Publishing

225 Seven Farms Drive
Unit 108
Daniel Island, SC 29492 

Office Number: 843-856-1999
Fax Number: 843-856-8555

 

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