Brittany's First Hand Experience With Operation Christmas Child

Hi my name is Brittany.  In school we created boxes for Operation Christmas Child.  I thought it was kind of boring.  I mean "why waste the time and energy?  I have better things to do"  "These kids, I won't ever meet them, so it really doesn't affect me."  I did not have the best attitude about it.

This past summer my entire outlook changed.  I went to Costa Rica on a trip.  In the middle of the trip we were visiting with a small church in a very impoverished , poor neighborhood.  The people of the town were so gracious and opened their homes to us.  They shared what little they had with such joy.  They did not have much. I was blown away by their graciousness.

On the second day we were there, the leaders of the community started filling the church.  They had red and green shoe boxes.  At first I did not understand what was going on.  Then one of the men started calling out names, and one by one each child received a box.  I saw the name on top of the boxes - "Operation Christmas Child", and that is when it clicked.  These kids were getting gift boxes that were made by kids in the United States, kids like me.

I really wish you could have seen the looks of joy every one of those kids had on their faces.  They probably had never received a Christmas gift and yet here was a whole box just for them.  Sure, it was the middle of July, but that did not matter.  They started pulling out toys and having the time of their lives.  I did not need to understand Spanish to see how happy they were.

Think about it this way.  These are little toys that most of us would probably care less about.  We would never consider them good gifts because we have more than enough.  Honestly, who gets excited about a yo-yo or a bouncy ball?  But these kids?  They were ecstatic.  It was an incredibly happy day for them and me.  It really changed my perspective on gifts, and giving back.