Operation Christmas Child
Izabella McMillon was 13 years old when she received an Operation Christmas Child shoebox while growing up in communist Romania. Now with children of her own, McMillon works with Samitarian's Purse International Relief, a non-denominational evangelical Christian organization where she helps provide aid to hurting and oppressed children around the world. Last week, McMillon visited Warren Baptist Church where she recounted her difficult childhood, how Operation Christmas Child helped change her life and the day it snowed.
During her formative years in Romania, McMillon lived in extreme poverty and her family often "had to stand in long lines for upwards of 20 hours for very little food," McMillon told Warren Baptist Church attendees. Romania was under tight communist control and along with the brutality of not having enough food to eat, McMillon 's family was also not afforded the freedom of religion, the freedom to worship or the freedom to speak. Romanians were expected to dress alike, think alike and adhere to the societal standards of conformity.
"One day my life started to change when I was seven years old and my brother Tibor was 10," McMillon said. "We discovered a book of stories hidden under the rug beneath the floorboards of our home and we started reading that book which was the Bible," At an early age, McMillon and her brother had developed the love of reading and once the children discovered the Bible, they were thrilled and fascinated by the stories. McMillon's father became aware of the Bible and realized the dangers that the book posed for his family and told the children to "put the Bible back where they found it and to never look at it again." Unaware of the possible consequences, McMillon and her brother dismissed their father's instructions and continued to read the Bible.
One day when McMillon was in fifth grade, a classmate invited her to a secret underground church service that met at 11:00 p.m. each Saturday night. McMillon discovered that many of the stories shared by the preacher were the same stories in her hidden book at home. Growing stronger in her Christian faith, McMillon asked her preacher to teach her how to pray. "When I was 13 it was really really cold in September. We did not have electricity most nights so when it got dark, it was bedtime for us kids," McMillon said. "The only way Mom and Dad would allow us to go out and play was if it snowed so I told my preacher, “I want to learn how to pray so I can start praying for snow." McMillon's preacher encouraged her to pray to God as if she was talking to her best friend.
"I remember going to the window the next morning expecting to see snow and there was not any. I wondered, "What’s wrong?" "What happened?,"McMillon recalled. "Come December there was still no snow and I was very, very disappointed. I told the pastor, “Did you know that this prayer thing doesn’t work?” He said, “Izabella, God always answers prayers. He promises that in His Word...Sometimes those things don’t look the same way we picture it."
McMillon said she waited for snowflakes for months and became skeptical of God's ability to answer prayer. On December 22, 1989, Romania's communist leader Nicolae Ceausescu was overthrown in a violent revolution and fled from the capital, Bucharest. "After the revolution in Romania, freedom was available to us. People were allowed to come into the country to bring more aid, and Operation Christmas Child was one of those organizations that came in and distributed shoeboxes," McMillon continued. "Christmas came and went and there was still no snow, "I was so disappointed that I lost my zeal of taking the Bible out every day and reading it," McMillon said. "A couple of days later, people started running in the streets. In Romania that meant one thing—that there was something at the grocery store...My brother and I put our shoes on and ran as quickly as we could to get in line. As we ran, though, people were passing the store...Big trucks pulled in and there were lots of people there who were happy," McMillon continued. "When they opened the backs of the trucks, there were lots of colorful boxes. A lady came up to me and said, “This is yours.” "What do I have to do?” I asked. "Nothing,” she said. “It’s just yours—totally yours.” Then she asked, “Is there anything I can pray with you for?” I thought, OK, this is my moment. “Would you pray with me for snow?” She didn’t ask any questions, she just did. Then she gave me a hug. My shoebox was so colorful. I’d never seen so many colors before...Then I took out a snow globe from my box and held it, wondering what it was. A little boy passed me and grabbed my hand and started to shake it really hard. I looked at it and remembered exactly what my pastor said. “God will answer your prayers. Keep your eyes open because it might not look the way you want it, but He will answer.” I thought, “This is it!” It felt like it was snowing all around me," McMillon recalled.
"We can’t put snow globes in shoeboxes anymore because they are liquid and might break, but I will never forget that moment. It was a moment of knowing this God that had been pursuing me through His Word since I was 7. I finally got it," McMillon exclaimed. "He was a God who was real and He was looking out for me and He does answer prayers. Now my family fills shoeboxes with gifts in order to give other children around the world a glimpse of God’s love."
Each year, Samitarian's Purse International Relief partners with churches and groups of all sizes to collect Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes from their communities. Warren Baptist Church participates in the program as a tangible avenue for evangelism, discipleship and transforming the lives of needy families. Along with their shoebox, children also receive The Greatest Gift, a colorful presentation of the Gospel in their own language and many are invited to participate in The Greatest Journey, a 12-lesson discipleship program that teaches the principles of Christianity. More than 7.4 million children worldwide have enrolled since 2010. According to A Special Report from Samaritan's Purse, Operation Christmas Child will deliver tangible gifts to over 11 million boys and girls in 109 countries this year.
Every year, Operation Christmas Child’s National Collection Week takes place the third week in November when nearly 5,000 drop-off locations are open across the country. Shoebox Collection Week is November 14-21, 2016. Drop off locations include: Warren Baptist Church, Wrens United Methodist Church,Hephzibah Baptist Church, Matlock Baptist Church, Macedonia Baptist Church, Bel Ridge Baptist Church and Edgefield Baptist Association. For more ways to get involved, gift suggestions and instructions on how to pack your own shoebox, visit samaritanspurse.org/occ.
