A survivor of the Rwandan Genocide spoke at Shawnee Alliance Church on Saturday about how Operation Christmas Child changed his life.
SHAWNEE TOWNSHIP, OH (WLIO) - A survivor of the Rwandan Genocide spoke at Shawnee Alliance Church on Saturday about how Operation Christmas Child changed his life.
By age 7, Alex Nsengimana and his siblings had to flee their home to live in an orphanage after their family was killed. One of the first organizations to respond to the genocide was Samartian's Purse with Operation Christmas Child, sending missionaries to the country to lift kids up with gifts and faith.
But for kids living through terrible situations like Alex did, knowing total strangers would do that for them proves things can and do get better and that there is good left in the world.
Volunteers fill up shoeboxes with items that seem inexpensive in a first-world country, like stuffed animals and notebooks. But for kids living through terrible situations like Alex did, knowing total strangers would do that for them proves things can and do get better and that there is good left in the world.
"It was a sign of hope that someone out there was thinking about us. And I remember very specifically as I dug deep into my shoebox gift, seeing the school supplies, seeing the toys. I remember a hair comb being one of my favorite items that I kept for the next three years. That shoebox gift planted that seed of hope in my life, and years later, this is when I realized the many miracles that God had done to protect me as a little kid, and one of those miracles was bringing me that hope when I received that shoebox gift," Nsengimana recalled.
Donations are collected from November 18-25th this year.
Donations are collected from November 18-25th this year. Shoeboxes can be dropped off at WTLW TV 44 or Union Chapel Missionary Church in Lima, Ebenezer Mennonite Church in Bluffton, First Baptist Church in Kenton, and Calvary Baptist Church in Bellefontaine. To learn more about the program, visit the Operation Christmas Child website.
