Members of Center Hill Baptist Church collected 421 shoeboxes this year as part of the ministry of Samaritan’s Purse Operation Christmas Child.

The church in Jemison has participated in the shoebox ministry for several years with 30-100 boxes collected during previous years.

The lady’s missions group heads up the project, and after a couple of years of being dormant, the group revived the project in 2013.

Church member Jo Layne Chapman said the church’s WMU director Beth Roscher, introduced many projects to the lady’s missions group and to the church.

“It became obvious that Beth had a heart for missions and especially for Samaritan’s Purse shoeboxes,” she said. “She and her husband, Matthew, regarded this mission as a year-long project. They spent their off days searching for items to go into these shoeboxes. As our group met each month, Beth would share a new idea for the boxes. Soon, we all caught the ‘fever’ and realized we could collect items year round instead of waiting for November, when the boxes are to be submitted for shipping.”

Chapman said it was like having a piece of Christmas all year, and in some homes, it became a project families could work on together.

“Santa’s workshop must look similar to the Roscher’s storage building that was filled with tiny toys, dolls, cars, coloring books, etc.,” she said. “We realized we could not wait until November to pack our boxes, so we set aside a night in August for all of us to bring our items to the church and begin packing. One night soon turned into several nights, and it was unlike anything we had ever experience at Center Hill Baptist Church.”

Chapman said every age group was represented from three years to 92-years-old to come to the church and help pack the boxes.

“It was such a joy to imagine the age of the boy or girl you were packing a box for, and decide what you wanted to give them,” Chapman said. “Some even wrote personal notes to go inside the boxes. What a blessing it was to see an 11-year-old with a pen and paper write a greeting to a child they will never meet. It was also a teaching moment as we explained to our children that not all children have as much as they do.”

Operation Christmas Child is a ministry that delivers packed shoeboxes throughout the world in an effort to teach God’s love to children living in extreme poverty.

“Each recipient of a box is given the opportunity to learn more about a God they might not otherwise have known,” Chapman said.

A group from the church traveled Nov. 26 to the processing center in Atlanta for Operation Christmas Child.

“This is just another way to receive a blessing,” Chapman said. “The highlight of the trip last year was when one of our teenagers found the box her family prepared, out of the thousands of boxes that were processed. We are so thankful that God chose our little group of approximately 20 women to lead our church of 70 or less to be his hands in this project. We were also pleased to receive a certificate from Franklin Graham, president of Samaritan’s Purse Operation Christmas Child, commending us for our efforts. We hope this will serve as a message to all small churches that great things can be accomplished when God is in charge.”

Chapman encourages anyone interested in participating in the shoebox project for 2015 to start collecting items for the boxes early.

“With all of the after-Christmas sales, you can find great bargains and be able to purchase much more,” she said.

Items often packed in the shoeboxes include toys, crayons, school supplies, pens, pencils and notebooks, and hygiene items like soap and toothpaste.

Items not allowed in the shoeboxes include toy guns, plastic soldiers, any liquids or chocolates.

For more information about the ministry, visit www.samaritanspurse.org.