Elizabeth Groff is the child we think of as we pack shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child. She is the child who drives us to shop and share and pray through every OCC campaign.

“I had no personal connection (to God). I didn’t know how to pray. Nobody told me I could pray on my own,” Groff said of her time as an orphan in Ukraine. “But I was crying out to him with everything I had… And when Operation Christmas Child came to my orphanage, it felt like a direct response to my prayer.”

Groff, now married, living in Texas and expecting her first child, shared her story in several Western Pennsylvania churches in April. It is an incredibly layered story of hope and love to consider as the Sewickley United Methodist family moves toward our 13th OCC campaign.

SUMC has contributed more than 1,300 shoeboxes since 2011, and each box is a window for His Light to reach children in ways we cannot imagine.

In January, Groff returned to Ukraine to deliver shoeboxes to orphans in a nation now savaged by war. She remembers an 8-year-old named Natalia who treasured a bright yellow flashlight she pulled from her OCC box.

“Natalia said the flashlight was her favorite gift because now, when the air raids begin and the city goes dark, she will have a light to lead her to safety. It broke my heart to think of that child in the darkness, but now I know she has the Light of Jesus.”

Elizabeth’s story begins in a village in southern Ukraine. She was happy at times, living with her grandparents and her half-sister, Tonya. They had a garden and some livestock. But happiness faded quickly. Her father died in an alcohol-related accident. Her mother became an alcoholic. Her grandparents were in failing health.

“I was the head of the house at 6 years old,” she recalled. “I was taking care of everyone. I went from house to house in the village begging for food.”

Her mother had a daughter who died of alcohol poisoning at seven months.

“I felt like it was my fault. I should have been taking better care of her.”

In desperation, Elizabeth, then 7, and Tonya, then 5, boarded a bus and traveled toward a new life in another village. The driver never asked for tickets. In the new town, they collected empty bottles and returned them to a store, hoping to earn enough money to buy food. The clerk called authorities. They were taken to a detention center as their families were contacted.

“We were happy in the detention center. We had food and didn’t have to worry about a place to stay.”

Tonya’s father came for her. No one came for Elizabeth.

“He said, I’m taking Tonya, but I don’t want you; you’re not my daughter.”

Elizabeth remembers Tonya turning to wave as she walked away with her father.

“She was smiling. She was happy. So I smiled for her, but inside I was heartbroken. She was all the family I had. I felt abandoned. I felt forgotten. No one cares. What’s the point?”

In the orphanage, as an 8-year-old, Elizabeth received her OCC shoebox. She remembers crayons and a coloring book, lots of pink “girl accessories,” and a bright yellow yo-yo. A window was opened.

“I didn’t know how to use that yellow yo-yo, but it was my favorite,” she said. “Those were the first gifts I ever received, and I knew then that I was loved and I wasn’t forgotten. God hadn’t forgotten me. The yo-yo represented hope.”

Elizabeth traveled to the U.S. as a member of the orphanage’s chorus. The tour was designed to introduce orphans to families interested in adopting. One night, Elizabeth fell asleep in the back seat while traveling to spend the night with a host family. The father chose not to wake her and sat with her quietly in the car.

“While watching me sleep, he heard the voice of God say, ‘This is your daughter, and you are her father.’”

Elizabeth was adopted by the family in North Carolina. They attended a church that conducted annual Operation Christmas Child campaigns. Elizabeth made the connection while shopping in a Target store. Her mother intended to fill two boxes. Elizabeth suggested 100 boxes. They filled 168 that year and more than 200 the following year.

As a student at Virginia Tech, she launched campaigns that filled more than 8,000 boxes in her time on campus. She enlisted the football team.

“We had huge linemen packing boxes with tiny pink gifts for girls and writing the sweetest letters,” she said.

Since graduation, she has witnessed around the country on behalf of OCC. She was surprised when she received a call from an agency in Ukraine that connects orphans who had been separated. They had seen her in an OCC video. The agency put her in touch with Tonya, who was still living in Ukraine. They had not seen each other in 20 years. They connected before the war, and since the war, Tonya and her son have joined Elizabeth and her husband in Texas.

The windows He opens continually bring light.

“I love telling my story”

NOTE: The Fellowship of the Cross will be collecting shoebox contributions through September. Our past contributions have twice reached Ukraine, as well as Africa, South America, and Central America.

Suggested donations include school supplies (pens, pencils, crayons, notebooks, and glue sticks), wearables (T-shirts, socks, caps), personal grooming items (brushes, combs, adhesive bandages), and “wow” gifts such as dolls, balls, jewelry, hair accessories, and toy cars. Flashlights and yo-yos are welcome!

We have already received enough toothbrushes, stuffed animals, sunglasses, scissors, and rulers to accommodate 100 boxes. We’re grateful to those who have made contributions through the winter.

The FOTC donation box is located outside the church office, on a shelf beneath the bulletin board.

Bill Utterback