Published: November 06, 2009 08:38 am      

Lifetime Volunteer

Click here to see the Nov. 7, 2009, Neighbors section in its entirety


By Erica Bowlin For the Times-Tribune

"The first year we did this, we got 45 boxes, last year we had over 4,000,” said Joyce Fox as she worked, surrounded by shoeboxes full of gifts in the fellowship hall of First Christian Church in Corbin.

Joyce has been volunteering all her life; she began when she was in middle school by volunteering her time to help out with Sunday school.

“I have always been involved in the church,” said Joyce. “My husband Phillip and I worked a lot with the Boy Scouts, especially when my sons, Phillip, Dale, and Marcus were growing up.”

“When I see a need, I try to fulfill it, Lord willing,” she said.

A retired school teacher, Joyce feels a great sense of satisfaction when she is able to help a child.

“It really just gives you great joy and contentment when you are able to help someone.”

For the last thirteen years, the Foxes’ favorite project has been working with Operation Christmas Child, a program that collects shoeboxes full of gifts and sends them overseas to children in need.

The couple serves as area coordinators for the program, and for the next few weeks they will be very busy.

From Nov, 16-22 the Fox family, along with other volunteers in the Tri-County will organize and collect thousands of boxes at the church.

“We first got involved in 1996,” she said. “I was given a brochure about the program, and we collected shoeboxes, just the members of our church.

That first year the church collected 45 boxes, and the Foxes loaded their own truck and drove them all the way to Knoxville, which at that time was the nearest collection center.

Later, Joyce received an invitation for First Christian Church to become an official drop-off site for the shoeboxes. She was admittedly hesitant to become involved in such a massive undertaking.

“I just didn’t know how it would all come together,” she said. “Would we have enough volunteers? Enough storage? I just had so many questions. I sat up all night praying about it. But, I knew it was something the Lord wanted me to do.”

After praying and after gaining the support of the women’s group at her church, Joyce accepted the job as area coordinator. Soon all her questions were answered.

Volunteers take their time each year to collect, organize, and load the shoeboxes. Over the years, more and more gifts have been collected and the program has become a success.

“We have many volunteers that help us, there are trucks that haul the boxes, and we even have some muscle that comes out to help us get everything loaded up,” said Joyce.

Operation Christmas Child is sponsored by Samaritan’s Purse. A not-for-profit organization, Samaritan’s Purse is based on the principles in Luke: 10:30-37. The story is about a Samaritan that stopped to help a man who was suffering while other people just walked by.

After watching the Samaritan, Jesus encouraged his followers to do the same.

Samaritan’s Purse works in over 100 countries worldwide to provide food, medical care, shelter, and education to the impoverished people.

Operation Christmas Child is just one of the many programs sponsored by Samaritan’s Purse.

Operation Christmas Child began in 1993. The program is simple, people all over the world — and here in the Tri-County area — are encouraged to fill a shoebox with gifts, hard candy, and clothing.

“Every one is encouraged to put together a box with whatever they can afford to put in it. And somehow, each year we hear stories about children who receive exactly what they had wished for, and that is really amazing to me,” said Joyce.

Joyce recalled a story of a little girl who was given extra homework because she didn’t have the proper uniform for school. She didn’t have any shoes.

That Christmas, she received a pair of shoes in her box. It was a small miracle, the shoes fit her perfectly.

“In a way, that child’s life was changed by that simple gift,” said Joyce,

Many people include pictures and letters in the boxes sent to the children, and oftentimes, the senders receive letters back.

The shoeboxes can be dropped off at several area locations and are shipped to children in need all over the world. Locally, shoeboxes will be collected at the First Christian Church in Corbin and Sonshine Bookstore, as well as the First Baptist Church in London.

For many of the children who receive a shoebox from Operation Christmas Child, it is the only Christmas gift they have ever received.

But the gifts enclosed in the shoeboxes are not solely material, each one will contain the message of God in the child’s language and Bible study materials.

Each box has a bar code, which is used to track the package. This information is sent via e-mail to the sender.

“This tracking is something new that started this year,” said Joyce. “It is great that the sender will actually know where the package is going.”

The literature enclosed in each shoebox encourages the child to learn about the word of God and share it with his family. When the Bible lessons are completed, the child will receive a copy of the Bible.

There are four steps to follow in the Operation Christmas Child program. Those are pray, pack, give and follow. According to Joyce, the first step is crucial.

“Pray for the child who will receive the shoebox, that he or she will feel encouraged to give their life to God, and will be filled with hope and encouragement,” said Fox.

Also during the week of collection, the volunteers ask for everyone’s prayers. The ask that people of all denominations pray for the program and all the volunteers and for every aspect of the collection process.

Even though there are some long hours and lots of hard work, Fox is happy she listened to her heart and became involved in Operation Christmas Child.

“It shows me that no matter how overwhelming something seems, if God puts it in your heart then you need to do something, He always makes a way for it to happen.”

To learn more about Operation Christmas Child, call 1-800-460-2865 or go towww.samaratinspurse.org. To volunteer during collection week, contact First Baptist Church at 606-528-1655.