Samaritan’s Purse hosts ConvoSelect discussing opportunities for students to spread salvation

Missionaries took to the ConvoSelect stage, sharing with students the purpose behind Samaritan’s Purse and their Operation Christmas Child (OCC) program.

On Thursday, Feb. 27, during Global Focus Week, Assistant Director of Partnerships and Promotions at Operation Christmas Child Gracie O’Loughlin and Operation Christmas Child shoebox recipient Vladimir Prokhnevskiy shared about the work of Christian organizations impacting unreached people groups globally. 

O’Loughlin spoke about Operation Christmas Child’s huge emphasis on unreached people groups and how God is working to bring people to Christ through this organization. She told a story about how they presented the Gospel to an unreached people group in Namibia called the Himba Tribe, who for most of their history have practiced animism, the belief that the material world has supernatural powers.

Operation Christmas Child volunteers orally translated a few books from the New Testament of the Bible onto solar-powered MP3 players in the Himba tribe’s own language so the people group has access to the Gospel. Volunteers from Operation Christmas Child built the first church for the tribe, which was a tree where the Himbian people could gather and listen to the Bible being spoken to them. 

In 2019 alone, Operation Christmas Child was able to reach 100 unreached people groups in 45 countries. Over 11 million people received their own personalized shoebox within this past year.

“(The shoeboxes) are the representation of the greatest gift of all, the gift of salvation,” O’Loughlin said.

Prokhnevskiy spoke about his experience growing up as an underprivileged child in Ukraine and what receiving the shoebox meant to him.  He came from a family of nine in Kiev, Ukraine. His father ran an underground ministry, a difficult position for the family under the communist government. 

Being a Christian limited one’s opportunities, and Prokhnevskiy’s father was forced to take low-paying jobs. Providing for his family of nine was extremely difficult, and at one point, the kids had to share toothbrushes because they were so poor. Most of their meals consisted of rice and potatoes. 

His mother faced rejection and persecution from society for having so many kids; many thought she and her husband could not realistically provide for them all. She struggled with rejection all her life due to being adopted and being a Christian in an oppressive nation. Through all this rejection his mother remained a woman of faith, Prokhnevskiy said.

“You can’t love your neighbor if you can’t love yourself,” Prokhnevskiy said, recounting how his mother inspired and influenced him. 

Prokhnevskiy spoke about the day he was impacted by receiving an Operation Christmas Child shoebox. 

“It was like a big birthday party with everyone” with so much joy and happiness filling the air,
he said. 

He was finally able to receive his own toothbrush and his own school supplies, meaning the kids at school would not be able to make fun of him anymore. His most memorable object in the box was dental floss; he thought it was a cool American candy. Prokhnevsky said that when children receive these gifts, they experience the love of Jesus Christ. 

Executive director of LU Send David Welch spoke to the audience about upcoming trips and initiatives for students, such as the G5 Colombia trip over spring break. 

During the Colombia spring break trip, students will work alongside organizations such as Samaritan’s Purse, allowing them to receive a hands-on experience serving in a global capacity. 

Welch shared about international internships and using financial aid packages during traditional study abroad experiences in places like Rome, Italy. 

Weaver is a news reporter.