Operation Christmas Child shoebox recipient Alex Nsengimana will come to Hilo on Friday, Sept. 26, to share his compelling story of how he found hope and joy through the gift of a shoebox.
Operation Christmas Child shoebox recipient Alex Nsengimana will come to Hilo on Friday, Sept. 26, to share his compelling story of how he found hope and joy through the gift of a shoebox.
Growing up in the throes of an unstable Rwandan government, Nsengimana experienced first-hand the travesties of his nation’s genocide. After his mother died of AIDS when he was very young, Nsengimana, his brother and sister went to live with their grandmother and their uncle.
At the height of tribal unrest in 1994, the genocide claimed the lives of his caregivers. Fleeing for his life, Nsengimana escaped gunmen when he fell and they took him for dead. He ended up in an orphanage that would serve as his home for the next several years.
Nsengimana received a shoebox from Operation Christmas Child one year after arriving at the orphanage and remembers being so excited to have a gift to call his own.
He was selected to join the African Children’s Choir and traveled to Uganda to train and began touring in the United States. Now a college graduate, Nsengimana lives in North Carolina and serves with Operation Christmas Child, paying forward the hope and love he received through the shoebox gift as a young boy.
In March 2013, Nsengimana was able to return to Rwanda with Operation Christmas Child and deliver shoebox gifts to the children in the orphanage where he received his own shoebox gift many years ago. He also had the opportunity to visit the man who killed his uncle in a local prison and offer him forgiveness and share God’s love.
The community is invited to attend a gathering from 7-8 p.m. Sept. 26 hosted by Hilo Missionary Church at 1044 Komohana St. in Hilo. Brochures and shoeboxes will be distributed following the event.
Groups may call 987-7373 to reserve.
A plastic shoebox is an additional gift for the children, or you may use a regular shoebox.
Gift suggestions for children ages 2-4, 5-9, 10-14 are toys, school supplies, non-liquid hygiene items such as a toothbrush, bar soap, washcloth, socks, T-shirts, flip-flops and hats.
Last year, Operation Christmas Child collected 9.9 million shoeboxes and distributed them to 112 countries.
The state of Hawaii contributed more than 42,000 for children in desperate situations in Nepal.
More information about how to pack a shoebox can be found at www.samaritanspurse.org/occ.
National Collection Week is Nov. 17-24 at the following locations:
• Hilo: Hilo Missionary Church: 3-5 p.m. Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday and 1-5 p.m. Sunday.
• Naalehu: Assembly of God Church: 6 p.m. Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-noon Saturday, 8:30 a.m.-noon Sunday.
• Waimea: New Beginnings Assembly of God Church: 3-6 p.m. Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Sunday.
• Kona: Living Stones Church: 2-5 p.m. Monday, Wednesday, Friday; 9 a.m.-noon Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday; noon-1 p.m. Sunday.
• Big Island Toyota Hilo and Kona locations, 8 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Friday and 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday.