A Helicopter Flight and Operation Christmas Child

A few weeks back, my friend Daniella was going to African Bible College up in Yekepa to do an Operation Christmas Child training and asked if I wanted to go along.  I gladly said yes, especially since our transportation would be via helicopter.

The morning of our trip, three of us ladies headed out early to grab a quick coffee before going to the airport for our flight.  At about 8:30, we were in the helicopter, and Justin, our SP pilot, was flying us over Liberia to our destination.  We needed to go by helicopter because the airstrip in Yekepa needs a some work before our airplane can land.  Also you can see by the picture below that the roads are still very muddy.  Luckily  for us, all Justin needed to land was a wide open space such as a soccer field.

Here are some views from our trip there.

The trip took about an hour and a half, whereas a trip by car would have taken all day.  As soon as we landed, we were greeted by the staff of the college and taken to the room where Daniella would teach her training.

Usually when Daniella gives her training, her class size is about 10 to 15.  As we walked into the room, there were at least 50 people already seated and ready to learn from various churches in the area.  A few people had even come over the border from the neighboring country.  Thankfully, Daniella was prepared with enough books for each church to have one training manual.  She taught them (for almost 4 hours) about how to present the gospel to the children who would be receiving the boxes as well as the best way to hand out the boxes.

Operation Christmas Child is an important part of Daniella’s story.  She is from Serbia and actually received a box when she was a little girl.  Her training included an emphasis on how the boxes are an opportunity to share the gospel with children who have not yet heard of the saving love of Jesus and how best to present the gospel in a way that children will understand.  The goal of OCC (Operation Christmas Child) is for each child in these needy areas to have one box, once in their lifetime as a way for them to also hear that Jesus is the answer.  Not all of these churches will receive boxes this year, but they will be ready when their time comes.

In two weeks, Daniella will be going back to the college to do more training.  Churches have the opportunity to do a 12 week discipleship program with the children who receive the boxes.  She will be training them on how to teach those lessons.  If a child goes through the whole program, he or she will receive a bible at the end.  Daniella will be teaching 50 people again.  This is a lot at one time especially because it is harder for the students to practice what they are learning.  Pray for Daniella and another friend as they this time travel by road there to do two days of training and then drive home.

After the training, we had a late lunch with the staff before heading back to Monrovia.  We had a pretty clear day for flying but did see weather on our way back.  At one time, it was like God was opening up just enough space for us to get through safely.  I was even able to sit up front on the way home.

We even flew over our compound on the way home.  You can’t see our house but it is hidden under the trees towards the top of the photo below.  Justin honked his horn as he flew over to make sure his flight follower (Noel) was awake.  Of course he was because when I got home, Noel had a great supper all ready for me.

It was great to see more of Liberia than the city.  I loved seeing the work that the African Bible College is doing and to also see the impact that Operation Christmas Child can have as they present the gospel as they hand out shoeboxes.

This week will be a busy week for Noel as he is flying five days due to the cleft lip project.  Pray for these flights and the surgeries.  On another note, I found out that my student body would only be increasing by 2 making a total of 5 students.  The other families are either homeschooling or are delayed.

Thank you for your prayers.  Let us know how you are doing and how we can pray for you.    Also check out my recent post on Sea Glass over at TJ’s Musings.   Teresa

1 thought on “A Helicopter Flight and Operation Christmas Child”

  1. I loved this blog about the training of those givingvout the SP Christmas boxes. Would it be possible to share this on our women’s ILPC FB page. We have participated in this fir years and I would love to share this personal encounter- Happy Wednesday, Allyson

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