How can the gospel reach an island with no power and no airport?
Persistent missionaries, Samaritan’s Purse, and those who give toward Operation Christmas Child.
An island with no power and no airport receives Operation Christmas Child shoebox gifts.
The small island of Enubirr has no electrical power or airport. Located in the central pacific, between the Philippines and Hawaii, Enubirr is part of the Republic of the Marshall Islands and home to just over 1,000 people.
In December 2020, Scott and Katie, a husband-wife missionary team to the Marshall Islands, and two others set sail for Enubirr aboard Cloud Nine, a 57-foot sailboat. Their boat was filled with 30 cartons of Operation Christmas Child shoebox gifts. The boat rocked across the sea for six-and-a-half hours until the team traversed 40 miles to meet local church representatives for an Operation Christmas Child outreach event.
“This shoebox, for many, is the first gift that these kids have received that is just theirs.”
Though it was 85 degrees and extremely humid, 293 children gathered under a covered patio and waited patiently while parents huddled around the edges.
Special Delivery
The team began with some Marshallese songs and then performed a skit before presenting the gospel of Jesus Christ to the eager crowd using colorful posters supplied by Samaritan’s Purse. Next, the shoebox gifts were handed out, along with The Greatest Gift Gospel booklets.
A boy receives his very own football
One boy at the event was named Randy—a 12-year-old who loves to play soccer. He desperately wanted a soccer ball of his own. But the most popular sports throughout the Marshall Islands are basketball and volleyball.
His mother had diligently searched for a soccer ball to buy him, but she could not find one. God had a special surprise in store for Randy, though. When Randy lifted the lid of his shoebox gift, he was thrilled to find a soccer ball and pump of his very own!
“One of the local pastors, Antonio, said that this shoebox, for many, is the first gift that these kids have received that is just theirs,” Scott said. “They don’t have to share—that’s a big deal!”
The Greatest Gift of All
But as delighted as the outreach team was to see the children enjoying their gifts, they were even more thankful to God for the spiritual fruit that came a short time later. “At the end of the program,” Katie said, “we did an altar call where 131 kids accepted Christ!”
Samaritan’s Purse has provided the partnering churches on Enubirr with resources to teach The Greatest Journey discipleship course specifically designed for shoebox recipients. The congregations are excited to use and distribute the materials—especially Bibles which are given to children when they graduate from the 12-lesson course.
““Operation Christmas Child...offers the gift of salvation, which we have seen over and over again impacts a whole community.” ”
“Operation Christmas Child is not just a ‘give a gift’ kind of program; it offers the gift of salvation, which we have seen over and over again impacts a whole community,” Katie said.
In 2019, Samaritan’s Purse President Franklin Graham launched a Pacific Islands Initiative to bring shoebox gifts and the Gospel to remote places like Enubirr.
So far, more than 700,000 children on hundreds of islands have received a shoebox packed full of toys, school supplies, and hygiene items—and the opportunity to hear the good news of Jesus Christ!
For more information on Operation Christmas Child and how your church can get involved, check out Samaritan’s Purse’s website: https://www.samaritanspurse.org/what-we-do/operation-christmas-child/
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