Operation Christmas Child News

Clean, Colorful Old T-Shirts Needed for Camp Project

We need clean t-shirts (kids medium through adult) that still have some life in them, are bright, colorful and not dingy.

We would like to give these t-shirts new life by turning them into jump ropes for Operation Christmas Child boxes!  Each jump rope takes between 5 to 7 t-shirts.  We also need volunteers with rotary cutters to cut the t-shirts into strips.  Then in a few weeks, kids in the older group at Adventure Bible Camp will turn them into fun, colorful jump ropes for kids around the world!  We need the t-shirts by June 9th in order to get them ready for the project. 

Simply drop off your t-shirt donations in the bin just outside of Fellowship Hall by the youth bulletin board. If you can help cut t-shirts or have any questions, please contact Trephina Bedell, tbedell@ilcp.org or 847-359-1549. More on information Operation Christmas Child can be found at Immanuelpalatine.org/operation-christmas-child.

Adventure Bible Class Creates Unique Gifts for Shoeboxes

The March Operation Christmas Child Item of the Month is “Quality Crafts” and the Adventure Bible Class used their creativity to make their own wearable craft - hand painted necklaces! Made from washers, nail polish and ribbon these unique necklaces are sure to delight a child who receives them in their box. Watch the video below to hear them singing while they work!

If you’re not a crafter you can donate store bought items. We’re collecting for Operation Christmas Child (OCC) 2017 Shoeboxes year-round. Simply drop off your donations in the bin just outside of Fellowship Hall by the youth bulletin board. If you have any questions, please contact Trephina Bedell, tbedell@ilcp.org or 847-359-1549. More on Operation Christmas Child.

necklace making for operation christmas child
necklace making for operation christmas child
necklace making for operation christmas child

Immanuel Community Meal A Crowd Pleaser – Next One January 12!

serving meal

Our first Community Meal in October of 2016.

The entire community was invited to a no-cost Community Meal on October 20 at Immanuel Lutheran Church & School and the community certainly responded – over 100 people came. Immanuel is once again opening its doors to the community. The entire community is invited to a no-cost Community Meal on Thursday, January 12 from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. The menu consists of sloppy joes, grilled cheese sandwiches, salad, potato chips, and dessert. After the meal, guests will have the opportunity to join in on a simple and easy service project that is part of Immanuel’s Operation Christmas Child efforts. Guests will be making very simple fishing kits for children in impoverished countries. These kits will help children provide meals for their family in the future. “It’s a nice way for us who receive a meal to help other children learn how to provide a meal for their family on an ongoing basis,” says Pastor Warren.

Our first Community Meal greatly exceeded our expectations, where we had just over 100 guests. Many, many volunteers, provided over 200 meals that included some take home meals. We are hoping to keep the giving spirit of Christmas alive even after the New Year holiday by inviting the community to come and enjoy a warm meal and great conversation.

Sometimes after the holidays, we all need a little break from the fast, frenzied, and frenetic pace of the season. So we invite you to come and join us for a time to relax and enjoy a simple warm meal. “At Immanuel, we recognize the importance of developing a sense of community among all people in our area,” says Pastor Warren. “With our fast paced, social media driven, ‘on-the-go’ society, many people don’t have an opportunity to pause and have a nice meal prepared for them. Conversely, there are many folks in our community who desire to make new connections to people, since they might live alone and might not have either the means or opportunities to meet other neighbors. It’s a great inter-generational event, and we welcome anyone to come and enjoy a good meal. We simply want to love our neighbor by providing a safe place to enjoy a fine meal, fine conversation, and fun.”

The Community Meal was founded in Barrington by Mary Sandner, a Barrington High school graduate. For more information on the Community Meal, please visit www.TheCommunityMeal.org.

Immanuel Lutheran Church and School, a fixture in the Palatine community for nearly 150 years, offers a variety of programs and services to the people of Palatine, as well as weekly worship services. Immanuel is located at 200 North Plum Grove Road (at Wood Street) in downtown Palatine, just two blocks east of the Palatine Metra Train Station. For more information, please contact Pastor Warren Schilf at 847-359-1549 or pastorwarren@ilcp.org.

Why Are We Making Fishing Kits for Operation Christmas Child Shoeboxes?

At Immanuel’s January 12 Community Meal, people will have the opportunity to assemble simple “fishing kits,” to be included in Operation Christmas Child Shoeboxes that will be shipped out in November 2017. You may be wondering why.

Pill Bottle Fishing Kit supplies

Pill Bottle Fishing Kit supplies

Fishing is one of the most basic forms of gathering food. It was born from the necessity to survive. High quality sources of essential fats and protein are difficult to come by, and when you are trying to stay alive, fish is often one of the best sources for animal protein.

The fishing kits that we will be making will be compact, lightweight, and inexpensive. By adding a simple local stick or rod to one of these kits, a child can contribute to their family by fishing and providing a quality meal. These fishing kits could help these children feel valued as individuals inside their family unit. In other cultures, it is not uncommon for children as young as 5, or sometimes younger, to go fishing to help provide for their family. While they could use their hands, make a net or use a spear, using a line increases the chances that they will catch a fish and allows them to avoid entering the water.  Using a line also significantly reduces energy expenditure.  “Reducing energy expenditure” in children is an unlikely goal here in the United States but in developing countries it can be critically important because they need energy in order to survive.

Two Adventure Bible Class students washing used pill bottles to prepare them for use in fishing kits.

Two Adventure Bible Class students washing used pill bottles to prepare them for use in fishing kits.

These fishing kits, made out of ordinary pill bottles, not only provide a potential source of food to a child and their family, but value and utimately love as well. We invite you to join us on January 12 at 5:00 for the Community Meal. Immanuel will be working on Operation Christmas Child Shoeboxes throughout 2017.

Another way to participate in Immanuel’s Operation Christmas Child project is to donate something to include in the shoeboxes – crayons, little notebooks, small toys and more. Items must be new. For a complete list of accepted items, please visit www.immanuelpalatine.org/operation-christmas-child. Donations may be dropped off at Immanuel at any time.

We will be holding another shoebox packing event here at Immanuel next November. For more information, please contact Trephina Bedell at 847-359-1549/tbedell@ilcp.org.

Immanuel Lutheran Church and School, a fixture in the Palatine community for nearly 150 years, offers a variety of programs and services to the people of Palatine, as well as weekly worship services. More information on Operation Christmas Child may be found at www.samaritanspurse.org.

Clearance Sales and Sharing the Love of Christ

nativity coloringFor missionaries George and Shary Frahm, sharing Christ is simply a way of life, in big ways and in small ways, whether they are in Cambodia or the United States. And so is frugality. The Frahms combined their passion for sharing Christ and their thriftiness when making their donation to Immanuel’s 2016 Operation Christmas Child Shoebox project. The Frahms, who have been present when children received their OCC shoeboxes, wanted treat the OCC children and since they are always looking for ways to share the story of Christ, they found a way to do both.

For approximately $3, they purchased a 24 count pack of nativity scenes that children can color themselves. Using ribbon they already had at home, Shary added on boxes of 8 count Crayola Crayons which were three for $1 at Dollar Tree. So each of these fun little presents only cost approximately $.50!

It only took Shary about an hour to assemble 48 of these presents. The kids will have fun coloring them and it becomes a decoration they can hang in their home. The kids can also use their new crayons year-round. Read more about Shary’s nativity scene presents.

 

Easy Ways to Get Involved

“There’s so many things to like about this simple little project,” says Trephina Bedell, Children’s Ministries Coordinator at Immanuel. “But my favorite part is the fact that almost everyone can do something like this! And the next couple of months offer the perfect opportunity to pick up something like the color-your-own Nativity Scenes on clearance – often at drastically reduced prices. Assembling these little treats is something individuals, families, and even groups can do. If people are interested in donating items like this, but don’t wish to assemble them, that would work as well. We have volunteers who would be happy to put together these little presents.”

Another way to participate in Operation Christmas Child is to donate plastic shoeboxes or something to include in the shoeboxes – crayons, little notebooks, small toys and more. Items must be new. For a complete list of accepted items, please visit www.immanuelpalatine.org/operation-christmas-child. Donations may be dropped off at Immanuel throughout the year.

Immanuel is located at 200 North Plum Grove Road, Palatine, IL 60067. For more information, please contact Trephina Bedell at 847-359-1549/tbedell@ilcp.org. Immanuel Lutheran Church and School, a fixture in the Palatine community for nearly 150 years, offers a variety of programs and services to the people of Palatine, as well as weekly worship services. More information on Operation Christmas Child may be found at www.samaritanspurse.org.

OCC Shoebox Packing Party a Success!

occ-groupThe Operation Christmas Child (#OCC) Shoebox Packing Party was a fantastic success Monday night. Over 120 volunteers packed and prayed over 140 shoeboxes to be sent out to children worldwide! We’d like to thank everyone who donated to the project — including Thrivent Financial, Colgate, members of Immanuel, school families, and people from the community –140-boxes-cropped- as well as the volunteers who packed the shoeboxes, American Heritage Girls, Trail Life, Cub Scout Pack Bear Den 209, 50’s Plus, the Wednesday Adventure Bible Class, Stephen Ministry, Good Samaritan Ministries, Julie Cox, George Frahm, Shary Frahm, Carolyn Rapoport, Linda Luna, Jonathon Bedell, and Trephina Bedell.

Please continue to pray for the 140 children who will receive these boxes, and for Operation Christmas Child.

Shoebox collection efforts and projects for 2017 will begin shortly!

Missions Beyond Our Walls

By: Shary Frahm

By now most of us realize that missions beyond our walls come in different flavors and seasons. That is good because the variety tends to capture the hearts of those we may miss along the way.

What happens though when it is a friend, or you yourself, that need a ‘mission’ moment or two in the crazy world of serving, especially when it’s two women who have served together half a world away? By the way, it’s ok to get weary in service, but it’s when you reach that point and realize you need to “check out” for a bit, it’s time to do so.

That’s where I was with a friend who had come to visit. We had dug deep into the Cambodian platform and were exhausted. She was to leave for home in a few days too. She needed to get out and walk, and maybe I did too. So we did something neither of us does much anymore here in the U.S. — probably as a result of dealing with such on a local daily basis in the market overseas. The novelty of shopping just wasn’t there. But we still went.

nativity coloringWe needed to find jars for a project. We got those and went searching. Operation Christmas Child was out there as well. Our feet got in motion, and our minds and God sorted out the ruffles.

That basically is how we found the nativity scenes, 24 to a package, with crayons to add to them, 3 to a package. Just walking thru the store with nothing in mind and stumbling across each on its own. Easy-peasy.

We just started to ribbon each set as she was about to leave. No problem. They traveled around for a while and many helping hands accomplished this end task in short form. How wonderful, in simple form, to share about the babe Jesus, to someone who perhaps doesn’t know Him yet!

It was indeed time to let a God be God and as usual He sorted it out while we moved around and closed up shop on conversations we had started. We were better.

Why Should I Contribute to Operation Christmas Child?

By Kevin Kindelin

Did you ever wake up one Christmas morning as a child all excited to run downstairs, upstairs, or no stairs, whatever the case may have been, to find nothing under the Christmas tree? Did you ever wake up to find no Christmas tree at all? Probably not. If you grew up in this area, you probably had more wrapping paper, ribbons, and bows remaining after you tore open your presents than you knew what to do with. Even if you grew up in a time or place that wasn’t so affluent, you probably still had a few gifts that made you feel quite special on Christmas morning, right? Yes, these were material things, but they represented your parents’ love and, ultimately, God’s love.

Now, imagine you lived in Uganda, Ghana, or some other seemingly God forsaken part of the world and your Christmas morning wasn’t about worshipping Jesus and opening up nicely wrapped presents found under a beautifully decorated tree, but trudging five miles or so to find water barely suitable enough for drinking. The children who live in these countries may know that their parents love them, but do they know God’s love?

Operation Christmas Child LogoThat’s where we come in. Immanuel is partnering with Samaritan’s Purse, a nondenominational evangelical Christian organization dedicated to providing spiritual and physical aid to hurting people around the world led by President and CEO Franklin Graham, son of world famous evangelist, Billy Graham. Operation Christmas Child is a ministry of Samaritan’s Purse and the vehicle whereby we can extend the love of Jesus Christ to children all over the world. Operation Christmas Child sends shoeboxes filled with presents such as toys, school supplies, toothbrushes, combs, personal letters, and a variety of other small sized gifts to these children. Along with their shoebox gift, children also receive “The Greatest Gift,” a colorful presentation of the Gospel in their own language.

Immanuel‘s American Heritage Girls, Trail Life USA boys, 50’s Plus, and Thrivent are partnering to participate in a national challenge to pack boxes on November 7th in Fellowship Hall from 6:30 – 7:30 pm. This is open to the Immanuel community as well as the community at large. This gives us the opportunity to show children around the world who do not know Jesus that they indeed are not forsaken, that they are the children of a loving God. Trephina Bedell, Immanuel’s Children’s Ministries Coordinator, points out, “We are doing this to impact those who need to hear about our Savior’s love and compassion for them, both the packers as well as the receivers. This isn’t a one sided project; It affects everyone from those that donate, to those that purchase the items, to those that pack the items, all the way to delivering the presents to the kids and presenting the Good News to those in the field through the 12 week bible study program.”

For many children, their shoebox is the first gift they’ll ever receive. The presents and personal letters inside communicate that someone cares for them and gives them an opportunity to experience the love of God. After receiving their shoeboxes, children are invited to enroll in The Greatest Journey; a 12-lesson discipleship program where they learn from trained volunteers what it means to follow Christ and how to share their faith with others. Through the efforts of Operation Christmas Child’s National Leadership Teams and local believers, entire communities are being evangelized.

The girls in the Adventure Bible Class created a bulletin board about Operation Christmas Child that’s displayed in Fellowship Hall. Check out how many items can actually fit in these “shoeboxes.” Contact Trephina Bedell at tbedell@ilcp.org, call 847-359-1549 or visit the Operation Christmas Child page to learn more about how you can plant the seed of the love of Jesus Christ in a child’s life. Donations are welcome.