Serving Others is Ageless
Operation Christmas Child
YES! is collaborating with Samaritan’s Purse and Operation Christmas Child in a special way this year to help spread the word about this amazing serving opportunity. This is the last of four stories we’re pleased to share.
Building Toy Cars to Help Build God’s Kingdom
Ken Postema, 71, is a retired book publisher. Five years ago, Ken had never packed an Operation Christmas Child shoebox and didn’t even know much about the outreach to children around the world to bring them the Good News of Jesus Christ. But a friend challenged Ken, who dabbled in woodworking over the years, to build 10,000 toy wooden cars to put in shoeboxes.
“Wow!” Ken said. “That's a big number.”
Ken went to work and after much trial and error, he perfected the building process and began creating wooden cars in his pole barn. In 2020, he built over 10,000 toy cars. The next year he created 20,000. This year, Ken is on pace to complete over 50,000 cars!
To achieve the lofty goal, Ken shared his passion for reaching boys and girls with the Gospel through shoebox gifts with two senior centers in his area. The residents quickly caught the vision and helped assemble the cars, putting on wheels and axel pegs. Ken's 93-year-old dad helps put the cars together, too. This year, he helped complete nearly 20,000 of them.
“It's given him new strength and a reason to get up in the morning,” Ken said. “He's encouraged knowing where the cars go and what the mission is all about, which is to help tell kids about Jesus.”
We're never too old to serve the Lord. Whether you pack one shoebox or several, or use your unique gifts, like Ken, to create items that will bring joy to children, you can make an eternal difference in the life of a boy or girl. You can also volunteer with Operation Christmas Child. Check out the many ways you can serve on our Ways to Volunteer page.
Declare His glory among the nations!
Psalm 96:3
Operation Christmas Child® is a project of Samaritan's Purse®.
Franklin Graham, President
PO Box 3000, Boone, NC 28607