{"id":63190,"date":"2016-06-08T16:05:39","date_gmt":"2016-06-08T20:05:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging.samaritanspurse.org\/?p=63190"},"modified":"2022-05-11T09:45:41","modified_gmt":"2022-05-11T13:45:41","slug":"shoebox-stories-denis-and-a-cowboy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/samaritanspurse.org\/es\/operation-christmas-child\/shoebox-stories-denis-and-a-cowboy\/","title":{"rendered":"#ShoeboxStories: Denis and a Cowboy"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n\r\n\t\r\n\t\r\n\t\r\n\t\r\n\t\r\n\t\r\n\t\r\n\t\r\n\t\r\n<\/g>\r\n\r\n\t\r\n<\/g>\r\n<\/svg>\r\n\r\n\r\n\t\r\n<\/g>\r\n\r\n\t\r\n\t\r\n\t\r\n\t\r\n\t\r\n\t\r\n\t\r\n\t\r\n\t\r\n<\/g>\r\n<\/svg>\r\n\r\n\r\n\t\r\n\t\r\n\t\r\n\t\r\n\t\r\n<\/g>\r\n<\/svg>\r\n\r\n
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Shoebox<\/h2>
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Stories<\/h3><\/a>\r\n\t\t

#shoeboxstories is an ongoing series in which shoebox recipients share about the eternal impact of a simple gift.<\/h4>\r\n\t<\/header>\r\n\r\n\t
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Denis<\/h2>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t

-and-<\/h2>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t

A Cowboy<\/h3>\r\n\r\n\t\t\t\t\t
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\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tWoody from \u201cToy Story\u201d reminded me of God\u2019s faithfulness.<\/span>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Growing up in Honduras, my brother and I only had to one toy to play with\u2014a plastic soccer ball that cost less than 50 cents. When \u201cToy Story\u201d came out, we used to pretend that my brother was Buzz Lightyear and I was Woody because they were almost like brothers. We asked our parents if they could get us Buzz Lightyear and Woody toys, but they couldn\u2019t because of difficult financial issues.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\t\t\t\t

I grew up in a Christian family and attended church. I accepted Jesus as my Savior when I was young in Sunday school. In 2002, our Sunday school teacher challenged us to invite a new friend to church who didn\u2019t know Jesus.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\t\t\t\t

The following Sunday, I saw a lot of unfamiliar faces in the classroom. I remember my teacher and other volunteers bringing in boxes. I wondered what was in them\u2014I\u2019d never seen anything like them before. Then we were all handed a shoebox and were told we could open them.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\t\t\t\t

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Inside I found a Woody doll! I stared at it. I couldn\u2019t believe it\u2014I now had something I had desired. But I put it back right away so no one would take it from me. I\u2019d been wanting it for so long. It was a special moment for me because I received something I wanted from someone I didn\u2019t even know.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\t\t\t\t

\u201cIt was a special moment for me because I received something I wanted from someone I didn\u2019t even know.\u201d
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I also remember receiving \u201cThe Greatest Gift\u201d booklet that talked about Jesus and different characters in the Bible. They are printed in color now, but I remember coloring the black and white pages. As I did so, it reminded me of every story I\u2019d heard in Sunday school. It helped me memorize the stories I was coloring and grew my knowledge of the Bible.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\t\t\t\t

My shoebox specifically showed me God\u2019s faithfulness through hardship, illustrating to me that He was going to provide. If He provided in the small things, He would provide in the big things. I was able to appreciate an act of love by someone I didn\u2019t know. To this day, this prompts me to participate in acts of love just as Jesus did. It motivates me to be a light wherever I go to help others in need just as I was helped.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\t\t\t\t

\u201cIf He provided in the small things, He would provide in the big things.\u201d
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It\u2019s been 13 years, and I still have my original Woody doll. He used to say, \u201cThere\u2019s a snake in my boot!\u201d and other phrases when you pulled a string, but now he has lost his voice. He also had a hat when I got him, but since he loses it in the movie, I don\u2019t feel bad that I don\u2019t have it now.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\t\t\t\t

Recently my uncle asked if I would pass the doll down to my cousin, but I told him it meant so much in my life that I wanted to keep it as a reminder of God\u2019s faithfulness\u2014that He would always be there even in difficult times.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\t\t\t\t

\u201cI wanted to keep it as a reminder of God\u2019s faithfulness\u2014that He would always be there even in difficult times.\u201d
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I brought Woody with me when I came to the U.S. to study information technology at Mount Vernon Nazarene University in Mount Vernon, Ohio. I graduated in April and now work in the information technology department at the school.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\t\t\t\t

I give thanks for people who dedicate their time to pack shoeboxes and pray over them. They are used by God to make an impact on children all over the world. They are reaching out to those who don\u2019t know Jesus and showing them His love through shoeboxes.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\t\t\t\t\r\n\r\n\t\t\t<\/div> \r\n\r\n\t\t\t

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#shoeboxstories<\/a> is an ongoing series in which shoebox recipients share about the eternal impact of a simple gift.<\/em><\/p>\r\n\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\r\n\t\t\t

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\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\tREAD MORE #SHOEBOXSTORIES →<\/span><\/a>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\r\n\t\t\t
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Operation Christmas Child<\/a> delivers great joy to millions of children around the world through shoeboxes lovingly and prayerfully packed with gifts that will bring delight to a child. In the hands of local churches, every gift-filled shoebox is a powerful tool for evangelism and discipleship\u2014transforming the lives of children and their families around the world through the Good News of Jesus Christ! After receiving shoebox gifts, boys and girls are invited to enroll in The Greatest Journey<\/a>, our 12-lesson discipleship program where children learn what it means to faithfully follow Christ and share their faith with others.<\/p>\r\n\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\r\n\t\t<\/article>\r\n\t<\/section>\r\n\t\r\n<\/main>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ShoeboxStories #shoeboxstories is an ongoing series in which shoebox recipients share about the eternal impact of a simple gift. Denis -and- A Cowboy Woody from \u201cToy Story\u201d reminded me of God\u2019s faithfulness. Growing up in Honduras, my brother and I only had to one toy to play with\u2014a plastic soccer ball that cost less than [&hellip","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":63215,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-63190","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-operation-christmas-child","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/samaritanspurse.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63190","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/samaritanspurse.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/samaritanspurse.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samaritanspurse.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samaritanspurse.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63190"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/samaritanspurse.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63190\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":220433,"href":"https:\/\/samaritanspurse.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63190\/revisions\/220433"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samaritanspurse.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/63215"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/samaritanspurse.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63190"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samaritanspurse.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63190"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samaritanspurse.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63190"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}