Area residents will have the rare opportunity to hear from someone who received an Operation Christmas Child shoebox as a young girl.
Lyda Giedd will take part in a Shoebox Celebration at 3 p.m. Sunday, April 6 at the First Baptist Church located at 402 Oxford St. in Wildwood. The event is free and open to the public.
Life in Cambodia was hard in the years after war and genocide. Giedd and her mother suffered from extreme poverty and vulnerability, and it was soon clear that her single mother could not protect Giedd and provide for her at the same time. Giedd was welcomed into her uncle’s Christian family, where her uncle became like a father to her. At 12 years old, Giedd attended an outreach event at her uncle’s church and received an Operation Christmas Child shoebox gift. Later, Giedd witnessed the gospel impact in the lives of children through a simple shoebox gift and The Greatest Journey discipleship program.
Operation Christmas Child is a project of Samaritan’s Purse, an international relief organization headed by Franklin Graham. The mission is to provide local partners around the world with shoeboxes filled with small toys, hygiene items, and school supplies as a means of reaching out to children in their own communities with the good news of Jesus Christ.
The outside the United States to children affected by war, poverty, natural disaster, famine, and disease.
The Shoebox Celebration event is being sponsored by area volunteers who serve year-round with Operation Christmas Child.