With no decent shoes, 11-year-old Lejla Allison begged her mom not to send her to school. Her worn-out sneakers had gaping holes where rain and cold could seep in. Her father had wired them shut, but they offered little protection for her feet.
They had no money to buy new. It was 1993 and they lived in war-torn Bosnia. Even to step outside was terrifying, seeing snipers and tanks in town, dodging land mines, and living in constant fear.
Then one day, something miraculous happened.
She’d gone to school, determined to run away. She was, “tired of being hungry, of being scared, of being poor, of being hurt, of seeing other people getting hurt, seeing other people die,” she said, in a documentary for Operation Christmas Child.
That was the day a team from Samaritan’s Purse, Operation Christmas Child, stopped by her school. Heartache gave way to hope. They came bearing gift-filled shoe boxes and the “Good News of God’s love.”
Now 26 and living in Pennsylvania, the married mom of two is a national spokesperson for Operation Christmas Child, and participates in packing boxes. She remembers well what her box held that day. “I tore the lid open and laying in the bottom were brand new, white sneakers...Of all the things in this world, I got shoes. I realized at that same moment, somebody, somewhere cared enough. They didn’t know me ...They cared to pack those shoe boxes. I went over and I asked the man that gave me the shoe box, ‘Who sent this to me?’ And he said, ‘Jesus is God. He’s God’s only Son.’ He came to this world to die for me, to show His love for me. That same instant, I knew. I just had no doubt in my mind that it was someone who knew my mind. It was someone who knew exactly what I wanted, that sent me those shoes. And who else could know but the Lord, Himself. That was the day that I accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as the Savior of my life.”
Shoes boxes are generally stuffed with toys, school supplies, hygiene items, and candy. Rarely do they contain shoes, says Ginny Jensen, volunteer area coordinator for the Northeastern PA Area Team for Operation Christmas Child. So Lejla’s chance of getting shoes was “astronomical,” Jensen says.
The message behind the boxes? “God cares about us. And that He cared enough to send His Son, who died on the cross to save us from our sins ...And so we are reaching the rest of the world with that gospel. God ...can reach anyone, anywhere,” Jensen said.
A guest speaker, Sunday, at New Covenant Fellowship Church in Hawley, Jensen said Operation Christmas Child has distributed over 60 million shoe boxes to children in more than 120 countries, since 1993. They’re given to children in third-world countries, wracked by war, natural disaster and poverty.
A total of 28,000 shoe boxes were handed out that first year that Lejla received hers. Last year, just under 8 million were distributed. The need is great.
This year’s global goal? 8.2 million shoe boxes. Of that number, the United States’ goal if just over five million. Along with the US, participating countries include: United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Sweden, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Netherlands, and Finland. 
Inviting everyone to get involved, Jensen says they could always use more shoe boxes. To learn more, got to www.samaritanspurse.org or call toll free 1-800-353-5949.
Packing a shoe box  
Items to include when packing a shoe box:
• a stuffed animal. “It doesn’t matter if they’re a two year-old, or a 14-year-old. boy or girl, they tuck it right under their chin,” says Ginny Jensen, volunteer area coordinator for the Northeastern PA Area Team for Operation Christmas Child.
• colorful items. A box of crayons might cost 20 cents in the US in a back-to-school sale. In Uganda, that same box of crayons is an unaffordable $5. “If you put school supplies in your shoe box, you’re actually  providing a way for those children to go to school. Families there have to have school supplies to go to school. So, you’re saving that family that money that can be spent for something else,” she said.
• school supplies: pencils, pens, sharpeners, crayons, etc.
• hygiene items: toothbrush, toothpaste, bar of soap, wash cloth.
• a picture of yourself or your family. Children are proud to show others who sent their box.
• Please do not include: liquids, chocolates, or war-related items.
“Everything you put in there is the right thing, because it’s going to reach the person it was intended for. Go through and pack it the way you might want to receive it, and what would mean something to you,” Jensen said.
Relay centers
  Relay centers where shoe boxes may be dropped off include:
• First Presbyterian Church of Honesdale, 201 Tenth Street, Honesdale.
• New Covenant Fellowship Church, 55 Columbus Avenue, Hawley.
• Moosic Alliance Church, 608 Rocky Glen Road, Avoca.
National collection week is November 16 to the 23. To learn more, go  to www.samaritanspurse.org or call toll free 1-800-353-5949.