Westside Baptist Church shipped out 13,428 shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child with the help of 52 volunteers from Natchitoches, Red River, Sabine and Winn Parishes. These parishes make up the OCC West Central La Team. The church is a Central Drop Off Location for OCC, a ministry of Samaritans Purse. When the church began as a Relay Center in 2004, they collected 1,234 boxes during their first year.

This year’s numbers were:

Natchitoches Parish: 6,671
Red River: 1,801
Sabine: 3,482
Winn: 1,474

OCC is an outreach program of Samaritan’s Purse. Samaritan’s Purse is a nondenominational evangelical Christian organization providing spiritual and physical aid to hurting people around the world. Since 1970, Samaritan’s Purse has helped meet needs of people who are victims of war, poverty, natural disasters, disease, and famine with the purpose of sharing God’s love through His Son, Jesus Christ.

Local Christians are taught to host a successful shoebox outreach event, organize a distribution, share the Gospel and invite children to participate in follow-up discipleship. In addition to hearing the Gospel before they receive their shoebox gift, children also receive The Greatest Gift, a storybook that shares the message of salvation. With the Apostle John as narrator, the booklet shares 11 Scripture stories and invites children to follow Christ. Children take this home to share with family and friends. It is used in more than 80 languages.

To get involved contact Brenda Ingram at 318-471-9415.