OCC kick off -Winnipeg

I apologize for this taking so long to post.

Sept I had the opportunity to attend the OCC kick off in Winnipeg.

This was the first time they held an event like this.

It was in conjunction with Rock the River.

I loved how they had the stage decorated.

We are going to use the shoe box tree idea in our church this year.

Izabella McMillion was the speaker.

She was one of the first shoe box recipients.

She grew up in Romania and has an amazing testimony. They grew up very poor.

During that time the stores did not have food on the shelves.  They had big books.  And in those books they wrote down what you took from the store.  The government kept track of their every move.

They were taught that when you see a crowd running you follow them, even if you didn't know why they were running.  Often it meant food had arrived.  One time they followed the crowd and they realized bananas had arrived.  They'd never had bananas.  But they stood in line for 27 hours to receive a banana for each of them.  And then they were grass green.  When they got home their parents said they couldn't eat it yet because they had to turn yellow.  So everyday they stood on a chair and waited for those bananas to turn color.  While her parents both worked they were taught to tend for themselves.  Not because her parents were neglectful.  But because it was the only way they could survive.

One day her and her brother found a Bible in their floor. When they told their parents they told them to put it back and never talk about it again. They could have been killed for having a bible in their house.

But her and her brother kept reading it when their parents weren't home. They were invited to a church, where they had scheduled times to arrive, so that they didn't draw attention to the house where they were told a Bible story. She eventually realized that the stories that were told at church were the same stories that were in the Bible her and her brother were reading. 

She had one prayer that was for snow. In the years that followed there was a revolution. When she was 13 they saw people running so they followed the crowd.  This time big trucks rolled in.  Some of the crowd left fearing there would be gunmen in the back of the truck.  But they got into the crowd which was excited to see what was in the trucks.  So they waited.  And there she received a shoe box.  And inside she received this.

       A snow globe!  She couldn't believe it.  God had answered her prayer.  She brought along the snow globe which she received when she was young.

She now lives in the states and is a teacher and every year they pack more and more boxes.
The video below is a short video from her.

It was a pleasure to meet Izabella.  She is beautiful inside and out.

I also had the opportunity to meet Ben Silcox, from Operation Christmas child.

His love of God is so evident in his life.

It was an encouragine, inspiring afternoon.

Thank you OCC Canada for a great kick off.

If you ever have the opportunity to attend a kick off or hear the story of a shoe box recipient.

I encourage you attend!

NOTE:  Snow globe are NOT allowed in shoe boxes.