New Hope Adventurers Club Packs Over 200 Shoeboxes for Christmas

Story by New Hope church staff

On a recent Sabbath afternoon children who are members of Chesapeake Conference's New Hope church's Adventurers Club in Fulton, Md.,  packed more than 200 shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child. The club members formed an assembly line and packed things like notebooks, pencils, crayons, hygiene products, small toys and Bibles into the boxes. These boxes will be taken to a Samaritan’s Purse processing center near Baltimore where a workbook that presents the Gospel for children is added. Then the boxes are shipped to children in the developing world. They are an evangelism tool to over eight million children a year.

For the past three years, 10-year-old Adilynn Woods (pictured above) has led the Operation Christmas Child ministry at New Hope Church. “When I think about all the things I have, and I think about all the kids that don’t have very much, I just want to help them so they can have the joy that I have too and hopefully learn about Jesus in the process,” says Adilynn.

Church members and people from the community donated hundreds of items to insert in the box. “It’s exciting to see church members coming together to support a ministry that’s run by kids for kids,” says Adilynn’s dad, Jerry Woods.