"Originally started as 'a gift of love' for children in war-torn Romania, it expanded worldwide as a way of showing love, generosity and help to poverty-stricken children who would never have had a Christmas gift in their lives, and possibly didn't even know about our Christmas celebration. The shoeboxes are an entry point to begin providing aid by way of water, sanitation, medical and schooling to the people in these poverty-stricken areas. Working alongside local governments, pastors and leaders of the villages, children would be invited to gather at a community meeting place and would each be given a shoebox filled with gifts: something to love, something for school, something to wear, something to play with, something for personal hygiene and something special."
Samaritan's Purse is a non-denominational evangelical Christian organisation providing spiritual and physical aid to hurting people around the world. Since 1970, Samaritan's Purse has helped meet needs of people who are victims of war, poverty, natural disasters, disease and famine, with the purpose of sharing God's love through His Son, Jesus Christ.
"The pictures on the brochure told the story and sold the idea to me - excitement and joy in the face of the children who received them."
Those handing out the boxes would spend time with the children, perhaps explaining how the toys worked, and sharing the message of Christmas - of Jesus' love for all of humanity. Following the handing out of gifts, Samaritan's Purse would begin the process of bringing aid to the village, she said.
"When I read the brochure, I thought it was such a great and ridiculously easy way to help people in need around our world. It doesn't take much time, money or effort to fill a box and yet the impact on a child, their family and their village is amazing. I brought a copy of the brochure home and found that it was just beginning in New Zealand, so we hooked into the organisation and started promoting it through our local church, City Bible Church. Since then, we have extended it to our café patrons and local community city wide, to participate in."
Mrs Forlong said this year about 650 boxes came into the cafe for collection from several churches, cafe patrons, and local Hamiltonians.
"Cafe Agora is just one of Hamilton's collection points for Operation Christmas Child. People collect a box and brochure from us, fill it, return it and then it's collected from us by the end of October. They are all opened and checked in the Auckland centre to make sure nothing dangerous or illegal has been placed in the box and are then put in containers and shipped overseas. The boxes from New Zealand go to Fiji and other Pacific Islands."
Lorraine said OCC fits perfectly with the ideals that Agora and CBC operate from as Agora partnerships with streetWORKS, Refugee Services, Incedo, FreeFM, Rahab Ministries, La Mai Coffee and Bright Hope World.
"We are passionate here about using the opportunities that cross our paths to reach the needs of others locally and globally and to share our Christian faith, and this is just one of the ways that we can do this. Operation Christmas Child appeals to many people because they like the idea of packing a box so that someone in need can celebrate Christmas - and it's so easy - and fun to do. We've heard some cool stories about how specifically some of the boxes met the personal needs of their recipients, like having only one large box left at a particular village with two sisters left waiting. They are meant to have one box per child. Inside the box was two of everything."
For more information about Operation Christmas Child, visit samaritanspurse.org.