When Reggie Peterson believes in a cause, he commits wholeheartedly. Perhaps this is a product of the work ethic he learned as a boy growing up in Greenport, New York. Or the gutsy determination that helped him survive an ambush on a German battlefield in 1945.

Whatever the reason, there’s no stopping him when he sets his mind to something.

These days the 84-year-old man is completely focused on packing boxes for Operation Christmas Child. National Collection Week begins Monday, and he has a long list of things to do.

“Dad is the energizer bunny,” said his daughter, Cathy Wood, who got her father hooked on the project a decade ago. “He got a pacemaker last July, and the day he came home from the hospital he wanted to pack shoe boxes. The doctor told him he had to wait a week. He hated that.”

Cathy discovered Operation Christmas Child in 1998 when she saw a brochure lying on the backseat of a friend’s car. She read it and became intrigued with the idea of sending God’s love to kids through a little shoe box. Cathy packed 25 boxes that year.

“I thought it was the coolest thing I had ever done,” she said.

Inspired by his daughter’s enthusiasm, Mr. Peterson joined forces with her and found a new mission in life. Operation Christmas Child has become a year-round project for their entire family, including his wife Helen, the grandchildren and great-grandchildren, Cathy’s husband Don, and numerous friends and neighbors.

They have packed over 1,100 shoe boxes so far this year, bringing the total to more than 8,000 in the past 11 years.

“If it wasn’t for Operation Christmas Child, I wouldn’t have a reason to get up in the morning,” Mr. Peterson said. “Operation Christmas Child has given me a purpose and a means to serve the Lord in a way I never would have imagined at my age.”

“I Clung to Psalm 91”

As a child of the Great Depression, Mr. Peterson learned valuable lessons about hard work and generosity. His father was a truck driver for a lumber mill. He and his brothers helped the family by contributing money from various odd jobs, including picking strawberries at a nearby farm for 10 cents a quart.

Reggie Paterson during his days as a soldierNot much pocket change perhaps, but the Peterson family was resourceful with everything God provided them. Because they fared better than other families, they gratefully shared their blessings.

His mother’s steadfast faith, lived out through her actions, spoke volumes to her young son. In addition to praying for others, she wrote letters of encouragement and touched many lives with her kindness.

He remembers her statement once after looking at an image of starving children overseas.

“She told me, ‘You be thankful for what you have, because there are children who don’t have anything,’ ” he said.

Those words would stir his heart in a way he couldn’t have envisioned decades later.

Mr. Peterson came to faith in Christ during a church rally when he was 12. That faith literally would be battle tested when he faced the greatest crisis of his life—World War II.

In February 1945, he was called into service with the U.S. Army’s 10th Armored Infantry in Germany, where he would spend the next 5 ½ months. The 18-year-old was in a squad called the “Ghost Division.”

“We would arrive on tanks and hold a town until the infantry moved in; then we would move to the next town,” he said. “I was nervous all the time. We didn’t know what was going to happen from one minute to the next.”

On April 1—Easter Sunday—the squad had traveled halfway across a field when they were suddenly met with enemy fire.

“They knocked off people on five of our tanks, shooting people in front of me and behind me,” Mr. Peterson said. “The Lord delivered me from harm that day. He brought Psalm 91 to my mind and told me He would bring me back home to Greenport. I clung to Psalm 91 every day after that.”

“Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.” (Psalm 91:3-4, KJV)

He turned to those words again as his unit was traveling toward the Nazi-occupied city of Innsbruck, Austria nine days later. Riding in armored vehicles called half-tracks, the soldiers made a brief stop near the outskirts of a small German town.

Mr. Peterson was walking toward his half-track when the soldiers were hit with shelling.

“A shell flew directly over the top of the half-track and exploded on the other side,” he said. “When it blew, the shrapnel was thrown backwards and hit us.”

A piece of metal struck him in the left leg. Other soldiers were also wounded by the flying debris, but miraculously none were killed.

He kept the piece of shrapnel as a reminder of God’s watchful care. He later received a Purple Heart, and his entire unit was awarded the Bronze Star.

Shortly after the Allied Forces gained control of Germany, Mr. Peterson was re-assigned to Fort Dix in New Jersey, where he spent the remainder of his military service until his discharge in 1946.

Old Soldier, New Assignment

Today Mr. Peterson enjoys a peaceful life with Helen, his wife of 59 years, at their residence in East Marion, New York, three miles from his boyhood home in Greenport. They have three living children, eight grandchildren, and eight great-grandchildren.

Mr. Peterson and a fellow Operation Christmas Child volunteer pack shoe box giftsMake no mistake about it, however. Mr. Peterson’s life is far from boring.

“Just because you are old doesn’t mean you can’t do anything anymore,” he said. “You can still do something for the Lord.”

For Mr. Peterson, that something is Operation Christmas Child. He was 73 when Cathy introduced him to the project. It has since become a full-time endeavor that has brought him new “marching orders” following retirement as a self-employed carpenter and contractor.

The operation starts in January with collecting boxes and decorating them with Christmas card cutouts, calendar photos, and stickers. He used to cover each box with wrapping paper, but arthritis made that task too painful.

Preparation of the boxes continues through June as Mr. Peterson and Cathy purchase many of the gifts themselves or ask for donations from stores and doctors’ offices. They also have friends drop off items, sometimes by the carton-load.

What makes their story all the more remarkable is that they are able to pack hundreds of shoe boxes even though they are not wealthy. Mr. Peterson and his wife are on a fixed income. Cathy and her husband have been in financial straits and sold their family-owned gas station last year.

The father-daughter team has one simple answer.

“It happens when we pray,” Cathy said. “We ask Him to provide, and then we step out in faith.”

Mr. Peterson with his bottle collectionMr. Peterson has come up with a unique fundraising idea that lines the shelves of his enclosed front porch. His expansive bottle collection (numbering well over 25,000) includes many historic artifacts, among them a 1600s-era glass container from England. He also refurbishes and sells golf clubs, golf balls, and baseball cards.

The Petersons have raised over $1,000 from four yard sales this year. More than half of that amount came during the Labor Day weekend sale, when their “Everything’s a Dollar” promotion brought in $627.

Since mid-summer, the Peterson and Wood families have devoted most of their time and energy to the task of packing shoe boxes. With National Collection Week edging closer, the focus has shifted toward their annual rite of passage, aptly named the “Great Box Move Day.”

It is quite a sight. Every year on the Saturday of National Collection Week, dozens of people gather at Cathy’s house in Riverhead, where all of their completed shoe boxes are stored. The human chain starts in the second-floor bedrooms, extends down the stairs, continues through the front entrance, and into the yard. The boxes are handed from one person to the next and loaded into five or six large vehicles used to transport the gifts to an area collection center.

Mr. Peterson feels honored to supervise this benevolent army of volunteers. Boy Scouts, the Kiwanis Club, and the Riverhead High School Key Club have been among the past participants. The event is so highly regarded that some people return year after year.

Despite his physical infirmities, the old soldier will keep battling for the hearts of children as long as the Lord gives him health and strength. He has no plans to slow down any time soon.

“God has given me this as a mission, and it’s so gratifying that He can still use me at my age,” Mr. Peterson said. “Every day He has a new experience for me. I’m just waiting to see what He is going to do next.”

WAYS YOU CAN HELP

PRAY:

GET INVOLVED:

Samaritan's Purse , United States , Operation Christmas Child , On the Frontlines