Lejla’s Story

Before leaving my apartment this morning and while getting dressed for a busy day at work, I was pondering just how in the world I should begin to tell you the amazing story of Lejla Allison.

Winter decided to come early this year to Boone, N.C., so I needed to put on a couple more layers to brave the harsh mountain winds. As I pulled out the box of winter accessories from under my bed, I noticed a label on top: “400 CDs: Lejla Allison.” (Ok, so I borrowed this empty box from the Operation Christmas Child warehouse last spring when I moved to my new apartment, but that’s not the point.) The label reminded me just how much God is using this young woman, Lejla Allison, to encourage thousands of people to pack shoebox gifts for needy children around the world.

It’s a little ironic that my box of winter accessories once held 400 CD’s of Lejla’s testimony. While I have plenty of scarves, gloves, hats, and warm shoes to choose from each morning, Lejla knows what it’s like to truly be in need of these items I take for granted …

Growing up in war-torn Bosnia, Lejla had to walk to school for an hour each day—snow or no snow. Her only pair of shoes, passed down from her older brother, had gaping holes that left her feet cold and wet. The socks and plastic bags wrapped around her feet, as well as the steel wire her dad used to shut the holes, were no match for the freezing Bosnian snow.

One particularly cold day, 11-year-old Lejla headed to school and wondered if God really cared—or if he even existed. The war had been cruel, and life had been bleak for Lejla and her family, who knew all-too-well the pains of going to bed hungry.

Lejla didn’t see any purpose for living. If God loved her, she wondered, why did He make her live like this? Why didn’t He just let her die and end the suffering? Valid thoughts for someone as miserable as Lejla. Hungry, cold, and heart-sick, she finally arrived at school. Little did she know that this day would mark the beginning of the rest of her life—a life marked by service to the very God she woke up that morning questioning.

As she approached the schoolhouse, Lejla saw her classmates opening colorfully-wrapped boxes. When a man from Samaritan’s Purse handed her a box, she didn’t know how to react. Inside was candy, the first she had tasted in four years, some pencils, and a notebook for school. But best of all, there was a brand new pair of white sneakers! And they fit perfectly.

One of the amazing things about this story is the fact that Lejla had shoes in her box. Most “shoebox packers” take out the shoes and fill an empty box with other gifts. But God knew what Lejla needed and how to win her heart.

Lejla was so overwhelmed that she began to cry. “I knew that God had answered my prayers. I no longer felt lonely because I knew that God, my real God, was watching over me,” she told us.

After learning that her present was packed by people in America who wanted her to know about God’s greatest gift to the world, Jesus Christ, Lejla invited Him into her heart.

What a story!

But the story doesn’t end there. Now Lejla packs her own shoebox gifts for Operation Christmas Child with her husband Jesse and their two young children. She prays that desperate children around the world will learn how much God loves them—just like she learned 15 years ago. Lejla has also become a national spokesperson for the project, sharing her amazing story and encouraging people around the country to pack shoeboxes as well.

“A shoebox isn’t just a box filled with school supplies and toys. Through my shoebox, I received love and hope and salvation,” says Lejla. “There are many children who would give anything to say thank you for their gifts, but they can’t. On their behalf, I say thanks to everyone who packs a box. Thank you, Jesus!”

Thank you, Lejla, for allowing the Lord to use you and your story. You are an encouragement to all of us seeking to fulfill the Lord’s calling in our own lives.

To learn how to pack your own shoebox and bring joy to a child just like Lejla, visit www.samaritanspurse.org/occ. National Collection Week for shoebox gifts is November 17–24.