Imagine retiring only to go to work full-time for the Lord. A dream come true for Jeff and Paula Grossmann, who serve year round in the Treasure Coast Area for Samaritan’s Purse program Operation Christmas Child.

Coordinating a grassroots team of 32 called-ministry partners, the Grossmanns overseemedia communications, community outreach, church relations, logistics (semi-trucks, etc..) and prayer ministries connected with Operation Christmas Child.

Encompassing St. Lucie, Martin, Okeechobee and Palm Beach counties, the grassroots effort is growing; there are more than 200 participating churches as God prepares and opens doors to more. Last year this Treasure Coast Area collected 20,000 gift-filled boxes; the goal for 2017 is 25,000.

The Grossmanns, married for more than 50 years, work January through June with a light schedule, but in season, July through November, they each easily put in 40 hours a week. Paula has been involved in Operation Christmas Child for more than ten years; she began by packing a shoebox. Paula was also chosen to travel to Uganda, Africa, to a women’s prison, to see the Gospel presented to inmates and gift boxes received by their children.

Jeff is partially retired from his own business, Grossmann Air Conditioning. He and his wife, Paula, have been Morningside Church members for 14 years. They have received Christian leadership training and are equipped and supported by Samaritan’s Purse staff in Orlando. Together the two make a dynamic team.

Did you know that when you pack a box that nothing ever is removed from it? This is called the “integrity of the box,” Jeff Grossmann states. After you fill a gift box and pray for the receiver, the box is collected at a collection site. From there it is transported with other boxes to central drop offs to be loaded into semi-trucks. The trucks travel to eight major processing centers across the United States. Florida boxes are received into a mammoth building in Atlanta where they are individually checked by 300 called-ministry partners and then placed into cargo containers for sea route shipping overseas. At times, some boxes will be placed aboard a plane if the receiving country has a limited time window.

Overseas, in more than 100 countries, children ages two to 14 receive the gift-filled boxes from trained Operation Christmas Child nationals. Many of the children are in need, living in poverty, orphanages, and refugee camps. These children are also invited to participate in The Greatest Journey discipleship program, where they will have an opportunity to meet Jesus and receive Him. “Jesus said, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.’” (Matt 19:14) Each day thousands of children come to know the Lord through this program.

This year Samaritan’s Purse is introducing a new type of box which may be used for gift-packing. It is a durable plastic box, decorated with the Operation Christmas Child logo and colors, now made available at Hobby Lobby. This box itself is a gift.

It is a blessing and an honor to pack a box and send it.

Paula Grossmann says this, “Last year, Puerto Rico sent many boxes; this year, it is expected that none will come from the U.S. territory.” God is calling us to make up the shortage and then some. If you filled a shoebox last year, please consider filling two this year.

Other ways to pack boxes include organizing packing parties through a community organization or church.

Just as Apostle Paul sent out handkerchiefs, these shoeboxes represent the work and word of God going forth. Children will be won to the love of Christ.

Paula tells a story of a box packed just with socks. The box was received in India by a little boy who had burned feet. Because of his condition he was required to wear socks, but he had only one pair; his mother was constantly washing them. God knew what this boy needed.

Jeff Grossmann adds, “God is in control.”

The work of God goes where no one can go—into the hearts and minds of children and their parents, changing the world for the glory of God.

National Collection Week November 13-20

Drop Off Locations:

Port St. Lucie: Morningside Church, West
Fort Pierce: Indian River Presbyterian
Stuart: United Methodist on Kanner Highway
Okeechobee: First Baptist of Okeechobee
Loxahatchee: Oasis Church
Jupiter: Harvest Community Church
North Palm Beach: Lighthouse Church
West Palm Beach: Lakeside Presbyterian

The human brain is plastic; that is, it is ever changing, being influenced daily by sights, sounds and learning. Modern Magnetic Resonance Imaging has shown that creative activities enhance and develop various parts of the brain.

The days of early childhood are especially critical brain development years. One of the best and earliest interactive activities between parents and children is reading.

Nancy C. Andreasen, M.D., Ph.D. writes in her book, The Creating Brain: The Neuroscience of Genius, that reading encourages children’s imaginations and visualization. These types of thinking processes develop the brain and teach children to create and think for themselves. Dr. Andreasen states, “Creating the right environment to learn during the right time to learn is one of the secrets of building better brains.” She maintains that daily reading to your child from the first few months upward is essential for the future. Interact with your child, ask him content questions, put emotion into the characters, and make it fun.

Reading to children 20 minutes a day from birth to age five creates a love of literacy, before school even begins. 20 minutes a day is a cumulative 600 hours. The Children’s Reading Foundation states that “Children whose parents read with them learn to read well and are typically proficient readers by third grade.”

Reading to children helps them begin to understand and know their letters and sounds, recall and retell parts of the story, answer questions about the content (the beginning of comprehension), and encourages speaking in complete sentences. Pictures are necessary for children’s literature as they help understand the meaning of the words.

The child’s brain is also developed through reading together: new sounds are learned, children must figure out word pronunciation, and vocabulary outside everyday conversation is built.

The Educational Testing Service reports that the more variety of reading materials there are in the home, “the higher students are in reading proficiency.” (Educational Testing Service, 1999. “America's Smallest School: The Family”)

As parents and grandparents read with their children, healthy relationships and reading routines are established. It is estimated that “for every year you read with your child, average lifetime earnings increase by $50,000.” (Lynn Fielding, Nancy Kerr, and Paul Rosier, The 90% Reading Goal (Kennewick, WA: The New Foundation Press, 1998), page 68.)

Children’s book author, Joy Budensiek is the mother of three and a grandmother of eight; she has also been a college instructor for 20 years and knows the value of reading with your children.

“Children,” she states, “have a natural affinity for discovering the wonder of nature.“

Joy Budensiek’s “By the Way” children’s book series is specifically written and prepared for parents and grandparents to sit down with their children and read together. Joy began publishing her work after reading that 19 of 20 Christian families do not actively talk to their children about God. Her books are tools she adds, “to help parents dialogue with their kids about their faith.” They will also develop a joy of learning through reading and discovery of nature’s wonders. In this way, seeds of faith will be planted with truth at an early age.

Did you know that a mosquito bites with her 47 teeth, or that a shark loses 35,000 teeth during its lifetime?

There are 3,000 varieties of palm trees, and alligator eggs laid in a sand nest at 82 degrees Fahrenheit will all hatch as females?

Each book is location-themed, the first covering Florida’s Treasure Coast, where Joy and her family reside. The Treasure Coast edition recalls the Jobe Indians and the many shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean, giving the area its name.

Book characters travel by bus, plane, or RV to the Smokey Mountains, Pennsylvania and other locals. Coming titles take “By the Way Tours” to Washington State, Colorado and Ohio during spring time to visit Johnny Appleseed. A major train trek is in the works covering the Megalopolis—Boston to New York. Joy Budensiek’s goal is to publish 100 books in her “By the Way” series.

Each book has beautiful photographs and attention has been given to detail. Also available are coordinating activity books (ages seven to 12), a 20-page coloring book (ages three to six), eight color 11 x 14 posters, sets of flashcards, and stuffed animals.

“By the Way” books are a reminder to us as parents and grandparents that it is our responsibility to prepare our children for their future.

Joy Budensiek was born in New Foundland, Canada and brought to the United States by her adoptive parents. At age 40, she traced her roots north and subsequently wrote the autobiography Reconnected to My Belly Button. Today, Joy lives in Hobe Sound, Florida where she has been an intercultural instructor for more than 20 years at Hobe Sound Bible College.

Contact Joy Budensiek www.bythewayseries.com

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