Parishioners at Church of the Visitation, Topping, have been busy elves, making, purchasing, and packing Christmas gifts for two programs, Angel Tree and Operation Christmas Child. The gifts will brighten the season for children of inmates at a local regional jail, as well as children in need around the world.
(Photo/Jennifer Neville)
For more than 20 years, the parish Angel Tree has benefited children of individuals incarcerated at Middle Peninsula Regional Security Center, Saluda. Meanwhile, the parish’s contribution to Operation Christmas Child, a project of the international Christian organization, Samaritan’s Purse, will provide gifts to 75 children worldwide this year.
Father Johnny (Koo) Mintah Mensah, pastor of Church of the Visitation and Church of Francis de Sales, Mathews, said giving to others is a fulfillment of Jesus’ teachings.
“There are many kids around the world who … have nothing to hold onto, and so we are bringing that smile to the faces of these crying children. It is our little gift to the world … We aren’t able to do all, but we can do small things with greater love,” he said.
Angel Tree ministry
This year, the Angel Tree ministry will provide gifts for about 20 children, who can vary in age from newborns to college students, explained Mary Sychterz, coordinator of the project.
She said that parishioners eagerly await the Angel Tree and often select a child who has asked for a certain item or who is the same age as one of their grandchildren. Sometimes the grandchild helps with the shopping.
“It does our hearts good to see how generous our parishioners are,” Sychterz said, noting that although the parishioner has the option of purchasing only one gift on the list, they tend to purchase everything.
“Our hope in this ministry is that even though the parent made a mistake in their life journey, the children do not suffer at such a special time in their lives,” Sychterz said.
Parishioners also donate money to purchase gift cards for each family to have a full Christmas dinner. Many of the children are being cared for by grandparents or other family members who are on fixed incomes.
Operation Christmas Child
Operation Christmas Child goes beyond giving physical gifts and focuses on spiritual gifts.
According to the website for Samaritan’s Purse, many of the gifts go to children in areas in which Christianity is scarce, sometimes non-existent. At a gathering, the children hear the Gospel before they receive their shoebox filled with gifts, and they receive the storybook “The Greatest Gift,” available in more than 100 languages, which shares 11 Scripture stories. Many of the children, 40.5 million since 2009, have returned to participate in the 12-lesson course, “The Greatest Journey,” which includes Bible stories and Scripture memorization.
Shelley Katsuki, coordinator of the parish Operation Christmas Child ministry, praised the project’s combination of gift-giving and evangelization.
“For many of these children, it’s the only present that they will ever receive, so it’s just introducing them to the idea of God’s love,” Katsuki said. “You’re doing a little bit of evangelism … It’s, ‘Hey, we’re giving you this present because we love you and God loves you.’”
The parish began participating in Operation Christmas Child three years ago. It was originally a youth faith formation project, but parishioners expressed so much interest that it became a parish-wide effort that same year.
Individuals can participate in a number of ways. For example, some parishioners donate, others pack the items in the boxes after Mass one Sunday, and others wrap the boxes. At this year’s packing party Nov. 17, the children eagerly raced from one table to the next, trying to fill as many boxes as possible.
Parishioners also make some of the gifts: this year, the Prayer Shawl Ministry knitted hats, scarves and washcloths, and parishioner Anne Wolski made reusable menstrual pads for girls who don’t have access to feminine hygiene products.
Other items in the shoeboxes this year included toiletries, small toys and school supplies. In addition to these small gifts, each child will receive a larger gift, which could be dolls, stuffed animals, toy trucks, board games and soccer balls.
Some of the parishioners write letters to the recipients. The children who wrote letters usually shared information such as their names, interests and favorite foods, Katsuki said.
“It adds that personal touch that when this child receives a box, they know this was packed with love by a person halfway around the world,” she said.
In 2022, the parish donated 53 shoebox gifts, and last year that number grew to 62.
“Our goal is not just to increase the number of boxes but to ensure that each one is filled with quality items and packed with love,” Katsuki said.
Children giving and receiving
The parish pays a minimal fee to track the packages. The destinations will appear on the parish Facebook page, and a poster will be hung in the foundation hall on which children can put stickers on the places the gifts have gone.
The Samaritan’s Purse website said that since 1993, Operation Christmas Child as a whole has collected and delivered more than 220 million gift-filled shoeboxes to children in more than 170 countries and territories. In 2022, Church of the Visitation’s boxes went to Guatemala, Ukraine, Malawi and Cameroon. In 2023, gifts were sent to Peru, Uruguay, Cameroon, Honduras, Ecuador and Columbia, Katsuki said.
She explained that the children who help “are taking an interest in altruistic behavior and are learning how to be compassionate and give back to the community.”
“We talk often about how the youth are the future of the Church,” said Katsuki. “It takes the whole community to really make the Church a functional and better place. [The children] are learning to care, and not just do something because they’re being told to, so they are learning this skill that they’ll hopefully carry over as an adult.”