Faith @ Work Lunch

Operation Christmas Child (Ministry of Samaritans Purse/Franklin Graham Ministries). Hear the testimony of Ted Foreman who received a shoe box filled with gifts at Christmas.

Ted Foreman

Vladimir Foreman, better known as “Ted”, was born in a sensitive country and received a shoebox gift at the age of nine.  Ted, at the age of three, was placed in the orphanage system along with his two sisters because his parents were alcoholic. The orphanage was a very gloomy, depressing place. There wasn’t anybody who would love and give Ted the attention he desperately needed. He felt a deep void. From a very young age, Ted sought after finding something to fill that void. Something to give him hope. By the time he turned nine, he was completely hopeless.

One day, when Ted walked in to his classroom at the orphanage, he saw colorful boxes in the hands of every child, and his was just waiting for him at his desk. This was his very first gift and as he excitedly opened it, he realized that somebody did love him. Somebody did care. For the first time, Ted experienced hope. He felt that there was more to life than what he was experiencing at the orphanage. Ted recalls receiving a washcloth, which was very special to him because he had to share one with 20 other children at the orphanage, and this one little washcloth was something he could call his own.  Also included in the box was bubble gum flavored Sponge Bob Square Pants toothpaste that Ted confesses was so good he ate it.

 Four years later, when Ted was 13 years old, he was adopted along with his sisters and he moved to the United States. One day his dad shared the gospel with him and used the analogy of a gift to explain what Jesus had done for him on the cross. Ted learned that gifts only need the simple act of receiving and realized there was a connection between the moment of hope he felt when he received a shoe box gift and the eternal hope he was hearing about, and now has, in Jesus Christ.

 According to Ted, the most meaningful result of receiving a shoe box gift was having hope and knowing that there was more to life in the eternal love of Jesus Christ. As an adult, his aim is to make a difference in the lives of children and share this truth with them. God used an Operation Christmas Child shoebox to plant a seed of hope in his life, to cultivate and to bring it to fruition.