Speaker comes to Ness City, Great Bend to share how global project changed her life

For 26 years, Operation Christmas Child, a project of Samaritan’s Purse, has collected shoebox gifts-filled with school supplies, hygiene items, and fun toys-and delivered them to children in need around the world to demonstrate God’s love in a tangible way. In 2018, over 10.6 million shoebox gifts were collected worldwide, with over 1,000 of those shoeboxes being collected at Great Bend and over 2,300 of those shoeboxes being collected in Hays.

One of these similar gifts reached Alina Aisina in a closed country in Central Asia when she was 5 years old. Aisina is now visiting Kansas residents to share how a simple shoebox gift had a life-changing impact for her.

Aisina will be hosted by the local volunteer team of Operation Christmas Child and tell her story at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday, June 30, at the Church of the Nazarene, 4811 Broadway, in Great Bend.

She will also speak at 3 p.m. the same day at Ness City’s First Baptist Church, 104 S. School, before traveling to Dodge City for a 6 p.m. appearance at Dodge City’s First Christian Church, 711 Fifth Ave.

The public is invited to attend.

Shoebox gifts will be collected in Great Bend this year during National Collection Week, November 18-25, 2019.

For more information on the upcoming speaker or the Operation Christmas Child ministry, contact Tamra Clawson, Operation Christmas Child Area Coordinator, at 620-482-3305, or Rachel Albin, Operation Christmas Child Area Coordinator, at 785-639-1325 or visit samaritanspurse.org/occ.