Christmastime is the time for shoebox-shows!

Montenegro | OM International

During the Christmas season (starting in December and leading up to the Orthodox Christmas on January 7)  the OM team in Bar, Montenegro delivered shoe boxes to local children. Roughly 900 boxes packed with hats, gloves, toys, games, hair accessories and other fun items were donated by people in England for “Samaritan’s Purse”. OM Montenegro wanted to perform a show with hand puppets for children that told the Christmas story before they gave out boxes. The Mary and Joseph puppets were borrowed from a church in the capital city, Podgorica. Some of the puppets had been brought to Montenegro by an American couple when they joined the team. Members from this couple’s church in Atlanta later visited and donated more puppets and a puppet stage during their trip. Some OM Montenegro team members wrote the script for the puppet show. A Russian DJ, who happened to be the neighbour of a couple on the team, had a recording studio in his home. He graciously allowed our two team members and a local Montenegrin woman to spend many hours in his recording studio getting the soundtrack right. The puppet show travelled to the Catholic centre in Bar, a centre for handicapped children and a day care for disabled adults. Many shows were performed for local children in the OM Montenegro ministry centre as well. The team went to homes in villages and delivered boxes in mid and late January. Several local friends participated in the villages deliveries, giving the locals an opportunity to assist in the outreach. Most of the children had received shoeboxes in past years, yet they still enjoyed singing with the puppets and laughing at Joseph because he used his head to knock on the door at the inn. Children had the chance to meet the puppets after the show and they loved practicing making the puppets talk. The team enjoyed seeing how some of the boxes were a perfect fit for the child that received the box. Twelve year old Natalija received a box with colourful hair extensions, which she loved and ten year old Bernada, who loves the color pink, received a box full of pink items. One boy in the Roma camp received a nice baseball cap, which he put on his head immediately. Normally, he would not have such a nice item to wear. Through the social service department the team contacted two families from a nearby town and delivered shoeboxes to their children. The team now visits these families on a weekly basis and has plans for a short term team to do a kids program in their community in April.

Credit: OM International
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