So many times, volunteering or doing a good deed can be done without knowing who is directly being impacted, but it is the hope and belief that an impact is being made that drives the cause.
That is the case for those who volunteer their time to help pack shoeboxes as part of the Operation Christmas Child initiative begun three decades ago by Samaritan’s Purse International Relief.
Local Operation Christmas Child volunteers were given the opportunity to meet Dioany Yosuino, who received a shoebox from the organization when she was 11 years old and living in the Venezuelan Amazon, during a speaker event at Good News Church in St. Augustine on April 29.
“I grew up part of an indigenous group in the Amazon and I grew up in a Christian family with my mom, dad and my sister,” Yosuino said.
She now lives in Texas after her family moved there when she was a junior in high school due to years of economic struggle in the country.
Although the family did not have much and times were hard, she still has fond memories of being a child and growing up in the Amazon.
“I love the mangos in the Amazon, because they were everywhere and we also had a tree in our backyard and it proved to be just the perfect snack,” Yosuino said. “I also miss swimming in the river where we used to always go after church on Sundays.”
The difference a shoebox from Operation Christmas Child can make in a child’s life is everlasting, as Yosuino is an example of that as she still vividly remembers the moment when she received her box as if it was yesterday.
“Since a child I have always loved creativity, drawing and all of that, so I asked my mom for markers, but of course she said no because we could not afford it with everything else that was going on, but she gave me a bible verse that said ‘take the light in the Lord and he will give you the desire of your heart,’” Yosuino said.
Although she did not get the verse fully at the time it would soon sink in through the craziest of circumstances.
“One day I remember there were so many kids excited about going to a soccer field and so we went and I remember getting there around five in the afternoon,” Yosuino said. “The time came when I got my shoebox after waiting in line, and I remember just being happy to receive a box before I even looked in it.”
The box included several items, such as, a Slinky, which Yosuino admits she did not know how to play with so she used it as a bracelet, hair accessories and the markers she had been hoping and praying for in all sorts of colors imaginable.
“Right when I opened it, the bible verse from my mom came back in my head and it was all I could think about,” Yosuino said. “To me the shoebox was a gift from God and all of a sudden I understood it.”
This year, Operation Christmas Child is expected to pack and hand out 11.3 million shoeboxes for children across the world, and the goal for the current year is for 10,000 of those to come from St. Johns County.
Since moving to Texas, Yosuino has gotten involved with Operation Christmas Child not just as a spokesperson for the organization, but she also takes part in packing her own shoeboxes as a way to continue to give back the kindness she received.
“It’s a blessing to share the gospel with children and it’s important for us spread that word,” Yosuino said. “You don’t always know the person you’re impacting but you know that every shoebox makes its own impact.”
