For many Americans, a shoebox is simply a container for a new pair of often expensive shoes.
For people like Edouard Ndecky, however, the sight of a shoebox means so much more.
Ndecky, a native of Senegal in Africa and now an adult, was the recipient at 14 of a shoebox prepared through the Operation Christmas Child program.
He spoke to a large gathering at Indianola First Baptist Church this past Sunday afternoon, holding the very shoebox he received during his teenage years, detailing the impact the gift had on his life.
“This is the box that gave me the motivation to serve God,” Ndecky said, holding the green and red shoebox. “This is the box that showed me that somewhere, someone is thinking of me, someone I don’t know.”
Indianola FBC is a faithful participant in the program, which sent out over 10 million shoeboxes globally last year, over 9 million of those coming from the United States, over 1 million from the Southeast and nearly 10,000 of those from the Mississippi Delta.
Ndecky grew up the son of a pastor in a nation where he said 95% of people are not Christians.
“Just imagine being the son of a pastor and being born in a country where 95% of people don’t know Jesus Christ,” he said. “What a challenge.”
When Ndecky’s father first answered the call to the ministry, the church provided no home, no pay and no food.
Finally, a friend was able to find a four-wall building, with no roof, for the family to live in.
Over time, his father used his carpentry skills to fashion a roof, but the family only ate one meal a day, and their mother worked as a maid seven days a week, from sunup until about 10 o’clock at night.
“My bed for 15 years was a concrete floor,” he said. “My parents never complained about that.”
Ndecky said his life was changed when he attended a camp at age 12. He accepted Jesus Christ as his savior, and he said he wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps.
Two years later, Ndecky was attending a camp when, at the conclusion, a man gave each child in attendance a shoebox, which was prepared through Operation Christmas Child.
Ndecky said his brother Noah was also in attendance.
He told his brother they were not going to open the boxes at the camp. They were going to wait until they got home.
“We can’t open our box in front of all those people and friends and the most important person in our family is not present,” he said. “We’re going to wait for mom. Mom has to see this special box.”
When they did open the boxes, they were amazed to find an abundance of soap, toothbrushes and even a Yo-Yo toy, which he still has to this day.
“This soap would last for weeks without my parents having to buy soap,” he said.
But there was a spiritual impact to the boxes as well.
Ndecky said it’s not just about the physical contents of the box.
“You are changing their lives,” he said. “You are changing their hearts for Christ. God is inside every box…God is working. Your boxes are going out. It’s not made up.
Since coming to the United States, Ndecky has committed himself to not only working each year with Operation Christmas Child, he has dedicated his time to speaking to congregations about the impact the shoeboxes are having throughout the world.
“What can we do through a shoebox?” he asked. “How many families are hearing the Gospel through one shoebox?”
Churches interested in participating in Operation Christmas Child this coming year may reach out to Indianola FBC for more information.
