Operation Christmas Child
Grace Fellowship is passionate about evangelism and discipleship. Toward that end, our church participates each year with Operation Christmas Child to spread the fame of God both here at home and abroad.
Since our partnership with OCC began in 2015, members of our congregation have participated in packing over 1000 shoeboxes — effectively sharing the Grace of God found through His Son, Jesus Christ, with over 1000 children, their families, and their communities. That is the power of a simple gift.
Help us reach our packing goal by the deadline and build a box online. It's easy!
Spreading God's Fame There & Here
As our congregation purposes to spread God’s fame around the world, Operation Christmas Child is an effective tool to share the Gospel with millions of people through these shoebox gifts and then to provide a way for the local churches overseas to disciple new believers in the commands of Christ. Additionally, OCC enables us to partner with less-resourced churches all over the world, allowing us to participate in fulfilling the Great Commission with fellow believers in some of the most remote and unreached places on earth. While it is God alone who brings increase to His Kingdom, it is a gracious gift to His people to be allowed to co-labor with Him in this incredible work.
In addition to fulfilling the Great Commission overseas, our church leadership sees many opportunities to utilize the ministry of Operation Christmas Child to reach the lost and make disciples for Christ right here at home. Our OCC team uses each fundraising event as an opportunity to share the Gospel with those from our community. Both students and adults are equipped in evangelism training. Our annual OCC workshop educates and inspires our members on how each individual and/or family can use OCC as an evangelistic resource within their own spheres of influence.
The History of Operation Christmas Child
Operation Christmas Child is an evangelistic outreach ministry headed by Franklin Graham. These simple shoebox gifts were re-purposed into Gospel Opportunity (GO) boxes. Operation Christmas Child began partnering with pastors and missionaries overseas to send a Gospel booklet, “The Greatest Gift”, with every single shoebox. In addition, each shoebox recipient who receives Christ has an opportunity to attend a 12 week discipleship course called “The Greatest Journey” at their local church.
In this class, children are taught more about the Bible and how to live as followers of Jesus. Since 1993, Operation Christmas Child has shipped over 130 million Gospel Opportunity shoeboxes to 180 countries world-wide. Pastors and missionaries from all over the world use these shoebox gifts as an evangelistic outreach tool for their work within their local cities, tribes, and villages.