Bringing the boxes full circle

OCC club hosts event allowing former shoebox recipients to share their stories

Liberty’s Operation Christmas Child (OCC) club hosted a Full Circle Night for students April 12.

The event celebrated students who received shoeboxes when they were young and now are able to tell their story.

“We wanted to give students a chance to hear how God uses shoebox gifts to glorify himself,” OCC club President Ellen Ferguson said.

“So often when people donate or contribute to mission organizations they don’t get to see the other side.”

The full circle recipients who shared their stories were Sherika Moss, Shanika Moss and Johnny Coggins.

Dr. Jeffery Ritchey, associate chairman of the global studies department, also shared how his children received shoeboxes during their time serving on the mission field in Croatia.

“We want to make sure people understand why we pack shoeboxes like we do,” Coggins said. “I received a shoebox when I was 8…It was the happiest day of my life.”

Twins Sherika Moss and Shanika Moss grew up in a Christian family in rural Jamaica.

They shared with the audience the struggles and heartache they experienced being raised in poverty.

“Our parents couldn’t really afford the necessary items for school for us,” Shanika Moss said.

“We used to use these (small) sized notebooks in school, and our dad would cut our notebooks in half for us to share.

Sometimes it was really embarrassing because others students each had their own notebooks, but we had to share.… Our father also used to cut pencils in half for us to share, and they were sharpened with knives because we couldn’t afford a sharpener.”

One day, when the twins were sitting in their school building, they saw massive boxes being delivered.

The Moss twins explained that all the children immediately became excited, but the teacher asked them to wait quietly in their seats and she would call them up row by row.

Both Sherika Moss and Shanika Moss received an OCC shoebox gift that day in Jamaica.

In Sherika’s box there was a calculator that she still uses to this day.

In Shanika’s box there was a full sized notebook along with other school supplies.

“The Lord used these boxes to provide these blessings because we didn’t have these notebooks and things before,” Shanika Moss said.

Coggins, now 22 years old, said that receiving a shoebox was one of his best memories. He was raised in Uganda and received a shoebox when he was 8 years old.

He spoke about how these shoeboxes bring hope to the children who receive them and the power that they have.

“When you put a toothbrush in these boxes, the children are honored,” Coggins said. “You all in America cannot comprehend that.

It is that you are giving the children something of their own.”

According to Coggins, the most important part about OCC is that the shoeboxes help the children understand that they are known and people love them.

Then they are able to learn about the gospel through these gifts.

“This is not just a project,” Coggins said. “It is a life-changing experience. It changed my life.”

There were many students who attended Full Circle Night.

Students said they learned more about what happens after the shoebox gifts are packed.

“I learned that OCC isn’t just an organization,” sophomore Jana Gilbert said. “It’s one that legitimately makes a difference.

Full Circle Night displayed to the participants that OCC genuinely has a heart for children overseas and that they are incredibly prayerful and intentional about what they pack inside their boxes.”

The OCC club will begin planning in August for their yearly Shoebox Blitz.

Frost is a news reporter.