A Simple Gift

Bismarck’s Story

At a church in the Nicaraguan village of Santa Isabel, 12-year-old Bismarck received an Operation Christmas Child shoe box gift that changed his life and, through him, the lives of many others.

“Before that gift, I didn’t know what a gift was,” says Bismarck. “The gifts helped us understand that we were special to the heart of God and that people in Canada cared for us.” 

The shoe box also provided Bismarck with the best evangelical resource he could ask for: a soccer ball. At just 16 years old, he set out to share with other children the love of Christ that he had discovered.

“I went to the poorest communities, and that’s where my soccer ministry started,” he says. Using the soccer ball he had received in his Operation Christmas Child shoe box, Bismarck established relationships with street kids through community soccer games, and shared the Good News about Jesus with all who would listen.

Bismarck has now pastored five churches in Nicaragua, and he relishes the opportunity to connect with those in his community through gift-filled Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes.

“Now I get to be the giver and not the recipient. It’s a real joy,” he says. “A shoe box can move the heart of a child. But not just the heart of a child or one family, it can change the whole community. And yes, I consider it a miracle.”