	Operation Christmas Child
	The Power of a Simple Gift The generosity of the people of the United Kingdom made it possible for Samaritan’s Purse to collect 1.24 million gift-filled shoe boxes in 2006. We have made Christmas very complicated in the UK. This past Christmas we spent over £10 billion on our Christmas gifts, and an average of 288 hours each – just preparing for Christmas Day. Often the true meaning of Christmas – the gift of God’s son, Jesus, is lost in all the frenetic activity. This powerful act of compassion, repeated 1.24 million times, is a bold statement to children around the world that someone in the UK cares for them deeply, and has bothered enough to make it possible for them to receive a gift at Christmas time as we celebrate the birth of Jesus.	Your box went to a child like David, a Roma boy who lives next to a rubbish tip in Belgrade, Serbia. When we asked him his age, he couldn't even tell us. He received his shoe box in the middle of December - and what a welcome gift it was. It's hard to imagine the joy and happiness that a gift like this can make to a child living in poverty. Even harder to imagine is what it must be like making a living from scavenging from a rubbish tip, and to comprehend that Serbia is in Europe - only a two hour flight away. Ann Smith
	Norbury Parish Church, Hazel Grove, Stockport, Cheshire. Telephone: 0161-483 6325

Operation Christmas Child

The Power of a Simple Gift

The generosity of the people of the United Kingdom made it possible for Samaritan’s Purse to collect 1.24 million gift-filled shoe boxes in 2006.

We have made Christmas very complicated in the UK. This past Christmas we spent over £10 billion on our Christmas gifts, and an average of 288 hours each – just preparing for Christmas Day. Often the true meaning of Christmas – the gift of God’s son, Jesus, is lost in all the frenetic activity.

This powerful act of compassion, repeated 1.24 million times, is a bold statement to children around the world that someone in the UK cares for them deeply, and has bothered enough to make it possible for them to receive a gift at Christmas time as we celebrate the birth of Jesus.

Your box went to a child like David, a Roma boy who lives next to a rubbish tip in Belgrade, Serbia. When we asked him his age, he couldn't even tell us. He received his shoe box in the middle of December - and what a welcome gift it was.

It's hard to imagine the joy and happiness that a gift like this can make to a child living in poverty. Even harder to imagine is what it must be like making a living from scavenging from a rubbish tip, and to comprehend that Serbia is in Europe - only a two hour flight away.

Ann Smith

Operation Christmas Child

The Power of a Simple Gift

Norbury Parish Church, Hazel Grove, Stockport, Cheshire. Telephone: 0161-483 6325