Operation Christmas Child, a project of international, Christian relief organization Samaritan’s Purse, delivers gift-filled shoe boxes to millions of children in need each year; and for over 20 years, Scottsdale families have packed shoebox gifts for boys and girls around the world.

According to a press release, one of these gifts reached Alex Nsengimana in Rwanda when he was a young boy. Nsengimana is now visiting Scottsdale residents to share how the simple gift had a life-changing impact.

He will be telling his story to local groups and churches. Nsengimana wants to encourage residents as they kick off the upcoming collection season to fill more than 14,000 shoeboxes with fun toys, school supplies and hygiene items—contributing to the global goal of reaching 11 million children in Jesus’ name, the press release stated.

The Countdown to National Collection Week with Alex Nsengimana is scheduled for Sunday, Sept. 25 at 4 p.m. at Scottsdale Bible Church, 7601 E Shea Blvd.

Samaritan’s Purse invites people to join them at this special event as they share how to participate with Operation Christmas Child, meet other Operation Christmas Child partners and discover how an Operation Christmas Child shoe box impacted the life of a Rwandan boy.

Courtesy Samaritan’s Purse

Growing up in midst of an unstable Rwandan government, Nsengimana experienced first-hand the travesties of his nation’s genocide, the release detailed. At the height of tribal unrest, the genocide claimed the lives of his caregivers. Fleeing for his life, Nsengimana escaped gunmen and eventually ended up in an orphanage that was 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. The gift of the shoebox sowed seeds of hope and love that he desperately needed, the release stated. Nsengimana, realizing that God had a specific plan for his life, now serves with Operation Christmas Child paying forward the hope and love he received through a shoebox gift.

During Operation Christmas Child’s National Collection Week from Nov. 14– 21, Scottsdale residents can bring gift-filled shoeboxes to multiple drop-off locations across Scottsdale to be announced in late October.

For more information, call 303-745-9179, or visit samaritanspurse.org/occ.

Participants can donate $10 per shoebox gift online through “Follow Your Box” and receive a tracking label to discover its destination. Those who prefer the convenience of online shopping can browse samaritanspurse.org/buildonline to select gifts matched to a child’s specific age and gender, then finish packing the virtual shoebox by adding a photo and personal note of encouragement. Boxes built online go to hard-to-reach countries.

Operation Christmas Child, a project of Samaritan’s Purse, seeks to demonstrate God’s love in a tangible way to children in need around the world and, together with the local church worldwide, to share the good news of Jesus Christ, the release stated.

Since 1993, Operation Christmas Child has collected and delivered more than 198 million gift-filled shoeboxes to children in more than 170 countries and territories. This year, Operation Christmas Child will collect its 200-millionth shoebox.