FROM BOX TO BIBLE: “Empowering the Churches of Ecuador (and elsewhere) Through Operation Christmas Child (OCC)”

January 31, 2010 – February 5, 2010

By: Connie Pfeifer

In early February, 80 servants of Christ, a mixture of OCC staff and OCC key volunteers (including me), were sent to deliver shoe box gifts to children in Portoviejo and in the coastal city of Manta, Ecuador. We were all assigned to small groups of 8-12 who would then minister in a variety of situations of great need, such as in a women’s prison, hospitals, schools, inner city churches, remote villages, and even the local trash dump. The local OCC National Leadership Team, as well as Christian translators, accompanied us daily to help bridge the language gap and provide the much needed link between us and the local pastors.   We were also privileged to lend a hand at a nearby surgical facility that Samaritan’s Purse is building, inching them ever closer to opening their doors to the Ecuadorian people by summer of this year.

Of the shoe box distributions assigned, my team delivered shoe box gifts to inner city churches and to a women’s correctional facility, where incarcerated mothers are allowed to keep their children (ages 3 and under) with them. Their older children were granted permission to also attend our distribution, where the Gospel was clearly presented both in verbal form and through drama. It was a very unique situation of being able to minister to both child and mother – something OCC has not done in the past. The children were beautiful in all cases, and it is such as these that the Lord calls unto Himself.

Of the inner city distributions, none were exactly alike in numbers of children, church facilities, types of programs, etc. However, what WAS exactly the same was that each of the Ecuadorian church leadership teams represented had the same FIRM vision and goal of reaching the next generation for Christ. It was a time of great celebration for them, for before our arrival they had labored long and hard to reach out to children and families in their communities who had not before come into their place of worship. In some cases, the visitors outnumbered the regular attenders. If there were physical walls to the church, they were touched with children and mothers in every corner. Prayer was a key component before, during and after every single distribution. In many cases, our team was called upon to pray for individual children or adults, most with disabilities. These were precious times – some with children in their home, some just in the corner of the church. Even one young boy who wishes to become a pastor was brought before the Lord in prayer. The children sat with such good manners, enjoying the programs and waiting in anticipation of their gifts. My eyes registered the fact that so many were reading their Gospel booklets even with the excitement and excessive noise in the room. At the count of three, the children opened and enjoyed each box’s contents, and smiled at enclosed photos and letters. The parents and children were all very grateful for our visit and our gifts to them, and we’re confident that the pastors felt empowered by having these resources to do ministry.

As if these experiences weren’t enough for one trip, we were privileged to take part in the commissioning service of the first Ecuadorian teachers finishing their training and who now can begin facilitating our OCC discipleship program called “The Greatest Journey.” This material is free to all who wish to know more about Jesus, the Bible and how to become a Child of God. OCC has even incorporated lessons on how to share their newfound faith with their friends and family. Those completing this course receive a certificate and a free New Testament in their own language. There is SO much that OCC provides for follow-up AFTER the shoe box, and the Ecuadorian Leadership Team has a passion burning to take what we have provided to their people.

Lastly, (yes there is more!) it was also our privilege to hear that shoe box gifts and the Greatest Journey discipleship materials will be brought to the Waorani Indians in the Ecuadorian jungle within the next few months. The most well-known Waorani Indian who took part in the deaths of the five missionaries back in the 1950’s, Mincaye, and his wife, Umpura, were with us to give a first-hand account (through two sets of translators) of the events of that time. It was inspiring to see Mincaye’s now gentle, saved spirit and to know that the shoe boxes will be coming to the village to further the ministry work being done in that part of the world. What a victory for Christ!

This trip was pure joy to my soul, yet it convicts me that we must persevere and do all we can to aid the local pastors of Ecuador (and elsewhere in the world) to reach the next generation for Christ through simple shoe box gifts and through the discipleship programs Operation Christmas Child offers each child willing to know more. The goal is to get the children from BOX to BIBLE (give them a shoe box gift with the “Greatest Gift of All” booklet, enroll them in the Greatest Journey discipleship program, present them upon their graduation with a new Bible, and then train them to tell their friends and family about their newfound faith in Jesus Christ). Today is DAY 1. It’s time to begin.