Never Underestimate What God Can Do
A Letter from Wendy Burkett
When you think about Operation Christmas Child, what comes to mind?
Is it a picture of a smiling child holding a stuffed animal or a boy kicking around a soccer ball? Is it a child in a far-away land hearing about Jesus and receiving a Bible in his or her own language for the first time? Is it a group of people packing and praying over the shoeboxes? Is it working at a collection center during National Collection Week and watching how God is working among other churches and community groups? Is it becoming a year-round volunteer serving in various ways to encourage and equip others to pack shoeboxes?
It is all these things and more. Why? Because God is in each step in the journey of a shoebox and we get to be a part of not only bringing joy and hope to a child, but in bringing the Gospel to the ends of the earth–the Great Commission! We can be ambassadors of God’s love right here and right now!
Pivot is a word we are all familiar with especially as we navigated the myriad of changes last year. One thing I learned, as we all did, is the Lord will provide a way for his work to be done, even in the midst of a pandemic. Jesus was using those very circumstances to provide new ways to serve, new ways to advance the Gospel. We should never underestimate what God can and will do. When we base our ideas of how God can use us based on our perception, we overlook the very essence of God–His ability to do anything and His desire to involve each of us in what He does.
How are we to proceed? As we fix our thoughts on Jesus, we will be able to claim His perfect peace and persevere. Jesus wants to use our strengths and weaknesses, our idiosyncrasies and quirks, our gifts and talents, our abilities and disabilities. We are uniquely created by God to serve Him, and we should let Him have control over every part of our lives and ask Him to work through us to His glory today!
Why am I passionate about OCC? Simply because I am passionate for God and must live for a cause greater than myself. The Bible reveals that the ultimate focus anyone can have is to glorify Jesus and be in obedience to his prompting in our lives.
Let’s celebrate what God has done: there were 9,113,853 Gospel opportunities (shoebox gifts) donated worldwide in 2020! This includes 7,809,410 donated in the U.S. That’s the power of what God can do even in difficult times–PRAISE GOD!
April Collections:
For the month of April we will be collecting fun items, like small toys, books, and stickers.
We’ve tried to make it easy for you to donate the items you collect. Here are some ways that you can donate items:
1. There is a collection box in the lobby at Littlestown Chapel where you can drop off your items on Sunday mornings beginning at 10:30 a.m.
2. Send us message to let us know you have items ready! We can arrange for a convenient time for you to drop them off.
3. You can also contact us to let us know that you have items that you would like for us to pick up. We’re happy to do that anytime!
Chicken BBQ:
We are planning to have a chicken barbecue fundraiser in May. Stay tuned for more delicious details on that!
National Collection Week is November 15th – 22nd , 2021!