A young girl’s story of how a caring gift changed her life
At the recent Operation Christmas Child’s Celebration Dinner, Mariya Tatarin, who grew up in a poor family in Ukraine, shared her story of how Samaritan’s Purse’s Operation Christmas Child changed her life for the better as a 10-year-old girl.
Every year area individuals, families, church groups and organizations band together in the name of compassion to assemble shoeboxes filled with children’s gifts that are shipped all around the world to children in underprivileged areas who may have never experienced the joy of receiving a Christmas present.
That program is Samaritan’s Purse’s Operation Christmas Child, an undertaking that sends millions of boxes of gifts around the world each Christmas season.
For most of those who give, they take it on faith that their act of compassion will reach a child who will cherish the bounty of toys and other gifts inside, but they’ll probably never know for certain the impact it can make on children’s lives.
Mariya Tatarin knows that is a certainty.
Tatarin, a mother of two and art teacher who now lives in Cleveland, was one of those children blessed through OCC, and it was an experience she won’t ever forget because of the impact it made on her life.
Tatarin shared her story at the recent OCC Celebration Dinner in Walnut Creek, where she spoke to a full house at Carlisle Inn about the experience and the impact it had on her young life as a 10-year-old living in Ukraine.
“I got to see God answer my prayers firsthand in a physical, tangible way through Operation Christmas Child,” Tatarin said. “That was the very first time our family ever had Christmas gifts.”
She said her parents both worked hard, but during a destitute time in Ukraine, they could never afford to buy gifts for their large family that included her and her five siblings.
Oddly, Tatarin’s family was the lone family to receive OCC gifts at that time, although she said there were some that came to other families later. She said that alone served as a way God was showing his blessing to them, especially because they were one of very few families in her area that were Christians.
“It was an unexpected blessing,” Tatarin said. “It was a turning point in my life where I got to see God answer my personal prayer.”
What makes her story inspiring is not that she was asking for a present, but rather that she was asking God to help her through a difficult time when she was being singled out, bullied and ostracized at school for her faith.
“Atheism was strong throughout Soviet Union and Ukraine at that time, and as the only Christian at school in my grade level who believed in God, I struggled,” she said. “Kids made fun of me constantly. I was being bullied because of my faith, and I had no friends.”
Then came the gift.
Tatarin said she opened the box and saw the flood of gifts pour out, among them something she hadn’t ever seen before, a box of crayons.
A gifted artist with paint after taking free local art classes, she said she had developed a passion for art at a young age. However, never before had she seen crayons.
“We loved all of our toys and appreciated all of the hygiene items, but those crayons, I was mesmerized,” Tatarin said. “They spoke to me. Ever since I was 4, I loved drawing, creating and using my imagination in anything art related. But I had never seen crayons before. I had no idea what they even were, but they were beautiful.”
Then came a decision that changed her life for the better. Rather than hoard her toys and spurn those at school who had mocked and bullied her, she turned the other cheek, choosing instead to share her bounty of gifts with those around her, especially a light-up yo-yo.
It became a life-altering moment.
Suddenly, those children who had turned her away saw something unique in Tatarin: compassion.
“I know Jesus would have forgiven and shared, so that was what I felt was the right thing to do,” she said. “I forgave them. I had been bullied for so long, and suddenly, everything changed, and I was accepted because I think they saw that compassion.”
One box of gifts sent from someone she will never meet proved to be a blessing beyond anything Tatarin could have ever comprehended as a child.
Stories abound about the way these OCC boxes impact children worldwide. From shoes for a shoeless child to a coat for a freezing youth, healthcare items and toys that brighten days and bring tears of joy, and the faith literature that accompanies each box, Operation Christmas Child continues to bless children in ways that in turn has seen them be a blessing to those around them and beyond.