11-11-15
Tyler Smiley, Associate Missions Pastor (Lakewood)
(Gainesville) Lakewood Baptist of Gainesville is preparing for its seventh year as a regional collection center for Operation Christmas Child in hopes of forwarding 25,000 shoebox-size gifts for children around the globe. Operation Christmas Child is a worldwide mission of Samaritan’s Purse headed by Dr. Franklin Graham.
Jim Lee is Lakewood’s volunteer coordinator. He said, “Last year we collected more than 22,000 shoeboxes from our congregation and nine others in the region. Boxes arrived from Buford, Oakwood, Hoschton, Cornelia, Cleveland, Dawsonville, Dahlonega, Toccoa and Cumming to fill two tractor trailers.” Each shoebox is designated for a boy or girl and bound for all parts of the world based on children’s needs.
Lakewood’s associate missions pastor, Tyler Smiley, adds “Each box represents one child whose life can be changed by a simple gift.
Collection week is November 16-23 as caravans will arrive on the Lakewood campus from other congregations in northeast Georgia. Then the loaded trailers will be dispatched to the southeast center in metro Atlanta for worldwide distribution.
