Every year since 2021, Abigail Lloyd at Pirkle Weir Insurance has helped her entire community give back on a large scale by serving as a community relations team member for Operation Christmas Child.
Operation Christmas Child is an international relief project run by Samaritan’s Purse with the mission “to demonstrate God’s love in a tangible way to children in need around the world.” As a whole, the organization fills shoebox-size boxes with gifts, including toys, school supplies, and personal care items, which are then shipped to children across the globe.
Through the shoeboxes, children are invited to a discipleship program where they learn about Jesus and his love. When they finish, they receive a Bible in their language.
Abigail started serving with Operation Christmas Child in 2021, when she very first began by packing shoeboxes. Immediately, she fell in love with the program’s mission.
“After filling shoeboxes for the first time, I was eager to learn more about the ministry side of the program.”
That same year, shortly after filling the shoeboxes, Abigail stepped into a larger role, joining Lubbock's community relations team. In her new position, she focuses on broadening participation in the program by reaching out to local residents, businesses, and organizations to distribute boxes for filling. Almost everyone she knows now helps each year, including her agency teammates, family members, fellow churchgoers, clients, and neighbors. In 2025, Lubbock collected 11,761 filled shoeboxes.
When asked, Abigail said that her favorite aspect of Operation Christmas Child was the discipleship program, coined “The Greatest Journey.” Each child who receives a box from Operation Christmas Child can receive only one throughout their life. And, for many of the children, the gift-filled shoebox is the first gift they’ve ever received, serving as a tangible demonstration of God’s love.
“The more I learn, the more testimonies I hear, the easier it gets to give back by serving.”
