The Bellflower (Calif.) Brethren Church, a Grace Brethren congregation led by Pastor Tom Hocking, was cited in Friday’s Long Beach, Calif., Press Telegram, as a location for Operation Christmas Child donations. An annual project held by Samaritans Purse, an international Christian relief and evangelism organization, Operation Christmas Child has collected more than 100 million shoebox gifts since 1993. A portion of the Press Telegram story appears below. Click here to read the complete article.
Bellflower church to hold Operation Christmas Child kickoff event
Bellflower Brethren Church will join churches around the country in an annual charity campaign that provides shoeboxes filled with Christmas gifts to impoverished children worldwide.
The church will kick off its annual Operation Christmas Child donation campaign today with a presentation by Livia Satterfield, a former Romanian orphan who says the shoebox she received when she was 12 years old led to her adoption by an American family and a better, more hopeful life.
The church is one of 14 drop-off locations in the area.
“It’s very rare that we have an opportunity to hear from one of the people who got a box,” said Linda Betzer, a volunteer with the organization.