LIHU‘E — More than 3,840 shoe boxes for the 2022 Operation Christmas Child were distributed Saturday during a church and community group leadership gathering at the Kaua‘i Veterans Center, the new home for Operation Christmas Child.
“This is a record number for us,” said Christina Ensman, the Hawai‘i regional director for Operation Christmas Child. “Our goal this year is to reach 4,114 shoeboxes packed and shipped for Operation Christmas Child.”
The gathering that brought leaders from around Hawai‘i to the Kaua‘i Veterans Center featured a visit by Pastor Mark Brumbelow and his wife Cherry Brumbelow of Grace Baptist in Wild Peace, Texas.
In 2014, some 30 members of Grace Baptist were challenged by Pastor Mark to fill a massive goal of filling 500 Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes for children in need around the world, states a release from Samaritan’s Purse, whose Operation Christmas Child is a project of the group’s international Christian relief.
The Grace Baptist group packed 532 shoe boxes. When Hurricane Harvey devastated Texas in 2017, the Brumbelows and many in their church suffered massive losses due to flood damage. Despite this, Grace Baptist packed for than 8,000 shoe box gifts for children around the world.
By 2019, Grace Baptist packed enough shoebox gifts to reach 11,139 children. And the numbers continue to grow.
Angela Amos of Samaritan’s Purse said that, for years, Lihu‘e, and Kaua‘i families have packed shoe box gifts for boys and girls around the world, some years for victims of the volcano in Tonga, or the flooding in the Philippines, and other areas of the world where disaster creates need for children and families.
Guiding this mission is the indescribable feeling of hope and joy when an orange Samaritan’s Purse DC-8, laden with supplies and volunteers, touched down at Lihu‘e Airport following the recent episode of flooding when the North Shore was isolated by flooding and damages.
The Brumbelows followed the morning gathering at the Kaua‘i Veterans Center by meeting the Kaua‘i Baptist Church youth group Sunday at the Nawiliwili chapel, where with the help of the local Operation Christmas Child leadership, including Mike and Christina Ensman, the first of 75 shoe box gifts for girls were dispatched.
“This year, we owe a lot to Pastor John Cabello and the Hope Collective,” Christina Ensman said. “They will allow the container to be at the Kaua‘i Veterans Center during the Operation Christmas Child’s National Collection Week that will take place Nov. 14 through 21. During previous years, people could bring the shoe boxes in at any time. This year, we have a new collection and packing site so people will have to hang on to their packed shoe boxes until the week of Nov. 14 through 21.”
Christina said that, in addition to the Kaua‘i Veterans Center, there will be collection sites at Waimea Baptist Church, Church of the Crossroads on the Kapa‘a bypass road and the North Shore Cavalry Chapel. Collection hours will be announced closer to the week of Nov. 14.
The Brumbelows continue their Hawai‘i tour with stops at the Hilo Yacht Club on Thursday and the Living Stone Church in Kailua, Kona on Friday.
This year, Samaritan’s Purse volunteers hope to collect shoe boxes packed with fun toys, school supplies and hygiene items to contribute to the global goal of reaching 11 million children.
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 808-245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
