NASHVILLE – First Baptist Church, Nashville, dedicated 11,250 Operation Christmas Child (OCC) shoeboxes Sunday, Dec. 17. In the past 16 years, the church has packed almost 87,000 shoeboxes for OCC.
“Our Operation Christmas Child ministry has been a great ‘whole-church’ ministry for us at First Baptist Church,” said Kevin Sartin, pastor of FBC Nashville. “Purchasing supplies, preparing items for packing and packing the Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes is a year-round endeavor that everyone from our children to our senior adults can participate in.”
FBC is a central drop-off site for OCC in Southwest Arkansas. During OCC’s National Collection Week, 22,656 shoeboxes were |collected from surrounding communities, bring the 16 year total to more than 167,000 shoeboxes.
“Packing shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child is a year-round missions ministry for First Baptist Church in Nashville,” said Beverly Starr, central drop-off team leader for FBC. “It is a wonderful and meaningful way to involve your family in sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with children and adults around the world.”
The shoeboxes collected will be distributed to children in more than 100 countries by missionaries who will present the gospel and follow up with a discipleship program called The Greatest Journey. In the last 10 years, 18.9 million children who received a shoebox participated in The Greatest Journey, where they learn what it means to follow Jesus and share their faith with friends and family.
“Our prayer continues to be that God will use the materials contained in the shoeboxes that we pack to share His love and to communicate the message of His gospel to children all around the world,” said Sartin.
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