Monday, December 22, 2014

Operation Christmas Child (OCC) - in Kimini!

So much excitement!
We had a wonderful visit from a team of 5 people from Ouagadougou this month. They came with about 750 Samaratan's Purse Christmas boxes to distribute in the region of Kimini. We started in our neighboring village of Wangolo, where over 200 shoeboxes were distributed. The team captivated the children for over an hour with a puppet show teaching the value of bathing, brushing teeth, and wearing clean clothes to school.

Then in the evening the team held an outdoor evangelism meeting specifically geared towards children and youth with lots of fun songs, a movie, and a presentation of the Gospel. Twenty young people responded to an invitation to accept Christ that evening in Wangolo. Pastor Paul will follow up on these children and youth.

Each child received a gift!
The next day we held OCC distributions for the children of the Kimini primary school and the Koranic school. For these two locations, about 450 shoeboxes were distributed. Afterwards the children were warmly invited to return in the evening where they also heard a 'child focused' presentation of the Gospel and where a puppet show grabbed their attention and their hearts. Five teens responded to the invitation saying that they wanted to invite Jesus into their hearts. Pastor Joel from Niangoloko will follow up on these new converts.

Pastor Joel received 40 shoeboxes to distribute to the children in his church and Pastor Paul received 60 boxes for his church.


Presentation of the Gospel
If you have ever wondered about the validity or impact of Operation Christmas Child Gift Boxes, I hope that this answers all of your questions! We tried but we could not begin to capture all of the joy and excitement that these gifts brought to our children. Many thanks to the Ouagadougou OCC team. God greatly used you in Kimini! May God get all of the glory!