The Ripple Effect: Operation Christmas Child Shoebox Recipient Gives Back

Good news, great joy! In honor of this National Collection Week for Operation Christmas Child, Kristy sits down with three shoebox recipients whose lives were eternally changed because of a simple gift.

For the second episode of our three-part mini series, Kristy talks with Yves Dushime, a pastor’s kid who received a shoebox in Togo. Yves was born in a refugee camp in Congo after his family fled the atrocities of the Rwandan Genocide. Yves and his family moved from country to country in Africa—fleeing conflict and seeking safety. When they finally settled in Togo, their community was heavily influenced by witch doctors. When he was 11 years old, Samaritan’s Purse Operation Christmas Child distributed shoeboxes in his small village in Togo, and his life was forever changed.

His shoebox contained school supplies, a warm scarf, and a sticky note that said, “God loves you. Jesus loves you. I love you.” As a boy hardened by the tragedy of his early childhood, he was in awe that a stranger loved him enough to send him a gift. Later that year, he gave his life to Christ. Because gift-filled shoeboxes were sent to Yves’ remote community, the voodoo-influenced villagers experienced God’s love and many became followers of Jesus Christ.

“I had heard the gospel thousands of times, but it never reached me,” Yves said. “I love people now. I want to help them in Jesus’ Name.”