not to contribute to the Shoebox Appeal

[teamboleyn]

because it has a Christian message 'attached'? I have nothing against Christianity but can they not do a charitable act without having an ulterior motive?

This is the same leaflet that us distributed with the boxes, flojo, translated into the native language of course.

9d524212-a-62cb3a1a-s-sites.googlegroups.com/site/occalert/Home/MostImportantStory.pdf?attachauth=ANoY7cpyaEMvt5seaibNNSr1AJrHXAR89g62foj4iG6tUHwhFj0RMt4yx7FlwodBuy2CC4StqUqYUtOpIj0JiRIymYO_bwf0adPGxMQrvjWb64knV-Vn3MCuxayike0FZxHmWB9wLt9VbaaxHiFMGuRCbV8tLcDcYgCRWhFQgd0odhlFgtJrFzGh54unBy2gc4-2dFreZpLpCojttMKunE3fDZg_zL53_VE1RFrj9QirRmK_w0j-PZI%3D&attredirects=0

Horrible organisation, run by an Islamophobic nutjob.

Franklin Graham.

Also worth pointing out that the "we don't put religious material IN the box, it is given WITH the box" applies only to boxes originating from the uk.

The American boxes have religious material stuffed inside.

This is the US website. I think they are not being honest in the UK about their intentions.

www.samaritanspurse.org/index.php/GreatestJourney/index/

Yanbu. I ignore most charity appeals. So shoot me

Just imagine the uproar if a fundamentalist Islamic charity turned up over here and started handing out shoeboxes of tat to kids whilst asking them if they would like a little book of stories.

And these stories were illustrated in a way to appeal to kids. Then maybe they'd like to come along to the mosque .....

So this is:
a) not an organisation that gives things to children that don't have them - it doesn't care if they're rich or poor, they get a shoebox
b) an organisation that is explicit in its wish to convert children.

Not got a lot going for it has it? There's another Christian organisation that does a lot of good - making sure kids are fed and the backpack project: www.marysmeals.org.uk/what-you-can-do/backpack-project/ which is great for kids to do and is something that they can really connect with

Oops - and that link again www.marysmeals.org.uk/what-you-can-do/backpack-project/

Ummm

Dd goes to a catholic primary, and I refused to do the OCC shoebox last year. This year the school is doing the Romanian shoebox scheme and we'll be participating.

As a former Samaritans volunteer I would clarify that The Samaritans, the charity that provides a listening service to people in distress, are not religiously affiliated and have NOTHING to do with Xmas shoeboxes of any kind.

I don't know where you get your info from DoodleAlley - but this is straight from the horses mouth:

Q. WHAT IS THE MISSION OF OPERATION CHRISTMAS CHILD?
A. The mission of Operation Christmas Child is to demonstrate God's love in a tangible way to needy children around the world, and together with the local church worldwide, to share the Good News of Jesus Christ.

Q. WHAT IS SAMARITAN'S PURSE?
A. Samaritan's Purse is a Christian relief and evangelism organization led by Franklin Graham. Read about our history here.

"Let my heart be broken with the things that break the heart of God." Bob Pierce wrote these now-famous words in his Bible after visiting suffering children on the Korean island of Kojedo. This impassioned prayer is what guided him as he founded and led the ministry of Samaritan's Purse in 1970. His mission for this organization was "to meet emergency needs in crisis areas through existing evangelical mission agencies and national churches."

After World War II, Bob Pierce traveled throughout Asia as an evangelist and journalist with Youth For Christ. While on a university lecturing circuit in China, he stumbled across some courageous women who were living among lepers and orphans, sacrificing everything to share the love of Jesus Christ. Through their selfless love, God gave Pierce a vision for ministry. He dedicated himself to finding and supporting other such Christians who were caring for the poor and suffering in the distant corners of the world.

In the summer of 1973, Bob Pierce met his eventual successor, an adventurous young student named Franklin Graham with a growing heart for world missions. Intrigued by his many stories from the field, Franklin began to spend more and more time with the seasoned Christian statesman. In 1975, he accompanied Bob on a life-changing tour of some of the world's neediest mission fields. Franklin saw the poverty of pagan religions and the utter despair of the people they enslave. God had captured his heart for missions.

Bob Pierce died of leukemia in 1978, and a little over a year later, Franklin Graham became the President and Chairman of the Board of Samaritan's Purse. Through over 30 years of earthquakes, hurricanes, wars, and famine, Franklin has led the ministry in following the Biblical example of the Good Samaritan all across the globe. God has blessed the organization under Franklin's leadership, and the ministry has seen explosive growth.

"Go and do likewise," Christ commanded after explaining the parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10. So we do. Samaritan's Purse travels the world's highways looking for victims along the way. We are quick to bandage the wounds we see, but like the Samaritan, we don't stop there. In addition to meeting immediate, emergency needs, we help these victims recover and get back on their feet.

No matter where we go or what we do, we offer more than help. We offer hope. To suffering people in a broken world, we share the news of the only One who can bring true peace?Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace.

Oh I like marys meals. At first I thought it sounded expensive but then I saw that u can send second hand stuff so that's good.

That backpack project looks fantastic, I may suggest it to our head.

Also flojo, you can send old backpacks that your kids don't use any more and if the whole school get together, it's not hard for you to fill a whole load of them pretty cheaply :)

I really like that link to Mary's Meals and it's something children can relate to.

Surely the important thing is the people that will benefit not the fact it is a Christian organisation arranging it?

Benefit how?

There are various schemes, the best is one that sends boxes all year, the worst IMHO is operaton christmas child.

www.guardian.co.uk/world/2003/nov/10/religion.society

www.inminds.co.uk/occ.html

I also support marys meals, www.marysmeals.org.uk/what-you-can-do/backpack-project/

This is from their website,

?We believe that everyone is capable of contributing in some way to our mission and we welcome all those who wish to do so regardless of background, race, creed, age, gender, or disability.? Extract ? Mary?s Meals Statement of Values

Mary?s Meals is a non-denominational organisation. The charity grew out of the Catholic faith of its founders and its values and ethos reflect this. The help offered by Mary?s Meals is always on the basis of need alone.

I don't see how anyone is converted by a Christmas box. Are there any statistics for people converted? I would think that rather than thinking 'wow, a Christmas box- I will become a Christian!' They think 'how nice that this group cares' and then get on with normal life.

I agree exotic
Though I also agree that if a religious group made leaflets and targeted my children I would be angry also.
But I think if I had nothing, and was very poor then I'd be less inclined to take the moral high ground. Also if its knowledge that the local church is giving out free toys then as a parent I would look out for the religious nonsense and bin it and educate my own children that this was the church goers beliefs and not ours.

If I was poor I wouldn't do my DCs out of the toys- I would just take it as a kind gesture and it would never occur to me that I was supposed to convert- you don't have to read the literature and no one can force you to!

I don't think I have a problem with the Christian message being distributed with the boxes. My issue from reading everything and googling is statements condemning the Islamic and Hindu faiths. Whilst they are not my own faith (I consider myself a non-practising Christian), my child's school works hard at teaching tolerance for other people's beliefs. How can I encourage support for a charity which actively appears to condemn any other faith in favour of their own. IMO it's not a good message to send so I shall be asking our school coordinator to provide evidence that this is not what it appears to be before dd hands in her shoe box. If they can't there are plenty of other shoebox charities I will send it to as she now desperately wants to do one.

OK I can't understand why people wouldn't contribute to the shoe box appeal because they don't agree with the adult views running it
, the children who the shoebox go too honestly don't care about our views and politics they probably are just thrilled to get something to open and have a few bits and pieces for themselves,
I really don't get it maybe my simplistic mind thinks it is a few odds and sods in shoebox to go to a child who doesn't have that much

They think 'how nice that this group cares' and then get on with normal life.

Oh THIS

Personally I think YABU. It's a gift to a child. There is nothing wrong with trying to spread the Christain message. I might not personally be religious but I don't see a massive problem with it,lots of people outside of the UK are,be they Christain,Muslim,Hindu and so on.

I find it interesting that it's fine to give Christians a kicking but there would be uproar if the same things were being said about Islam. They're religions,more markedly similar than they are different when we get back to basics.

If you don't like religious charities then don't contribute. But I find all this "not contributing because it's a Christain charity" to be a bit bollocks. I'd contribute to a religious charity if I thought the work was benefitting the group in question.