Operation Christmas Child Community Countdown was held September 9 at Farmville United Methodist Church.

OCC is a mission of the Parent Organization Samaritan's Purse, a mission that sends shoeboxes packed with necessities and toys for children in need all over the world.

“it was so great how the community came together, stated Jennifer Kinne, director of communications, FUMC. “We represent the South-Central Virginia OCC team.”

The counties who serve on this team are Buckingham, Charlotte, Mecklenburg, Nottoway and Prince Edward.

“We had 82 people in attendance,” Kinne continued. “It was amazing to see that there were 27 different churches in attendance, and those churches represented seven different denominations. Eight of the churches that attended were new to OCC this year.”

Guest speaker was Mesfin Gudeta who was born in a prison in Ethiopia. He was raised by his grandmother until he was seven years old and spent much of his childhood after age seven as a street child.

Gudeta was the recipient of an Operation Christmas Child box sent from a Christian in South Carolina. Gudeta later met a missionary who he later married and moved to the United States in 2003. He has been employed by Samaritan's Purse for three years and serves as a manager in the Operation Christmas Child Mid Atlantic office located in Marriotsville, MD.

Operation Christmas Child Collection Week this year is set for November 15-22.