Breakfast announcer Scott Haas received a message a few months ago . . .

It said his mission, should he choose to accept it, was to deliver shoe boxes full of Christmas gifts to children in Papua New Guinea. Although the message did not self-destruct, Scottie did hesitate. PNG has a terrible record when it comes to travellers, and although the trip was sponsored by Samaritan’s Purse, there was considerable personal expense for Scott as he prepareed for the trip.

However Scottie returned home beaming, claiming that the experience was worth the cost. “It was fine,” he now says cheerily. “Never once did we feel as though we were in danger.”

Every year in a huge global operation, Samaritan’s Purse sends millions of shoe boxes via Operation Christmas Child (OCC) programs to small villages and communities in underprivileged areas of the world. Each box is brimful of useful gifts and small toys for impoverished children. In 2010 the Tasmanian OCC team processed a record 18,139 shoe boxes, way beyond the 2009 total of 15,294.

Tasmanian State Manager Renee Garvin says, “A really huge thank you to ultra106five supporters – it has been such a good response from ultra106five listeners. I really appreciate the efforts of all those who have participated in the project this year.”

Around Greater Hobart, ultra106five listeners donated thousands of shoe boxes and it was for this reason that Scottie was invited to join the Samaritan’s Purse team – to give a firsthand account of what happened when children opened their shoe boxes in PNG.

The trip made such an impact on Scott he hasn’t stopped talking about it since! He had always enjoyed the idea of sending gifts to children overseas, but he has seen another perspective now. He says, “It’s not just a matter of ‘how nice to give them a Christmas present’ . . . it’s so much more than that. When we come in offering gifts, you become like part of the family.”

In PNG, the village culture is very closed to outsiders but with the arrival of shoe boxes, things change. “All of a sudden you are in a place to welcome the OCC Team [in partnership with local churches] back in to the village for medical assistance, to install fresh water pumps and to offer medical care,” Scottie says.

On one trip, the team travelled for hours on a badly potholed road to a village where they were to officially open a new water pump. Shoe boxes had been distributed there in 2009, and Scott learnt that the transformation during this short time was astounding.  He says. “It was a real highlight to see the culture, to see the beautiful people that live in PNG and to see the effect Operation Christmas Child had in a village 12 months later.”

Was it a worthwhile mission? Definitely! “I can’t wait to go back next year and see if another ‘first-time’ village we visited will change. I am so looking forward to that!”