Alex Nsengimana will be sharing the story of how a shoebox filled with simple gifts brought him hope after his family was slain during the Rwandan genocide. (Samaritan's Purse)

DOVER (WJER) - A survivor of the Rwandan genocide will visit the area later this month to share how Operation Christmas Child’s shoebox program brought him hope. 

Area representative Esther Troyer says Alex Nsengimana found peace after he received a shoebox from the outreach program based in the United States.

“After the genocide when he ended up in an orphanage, he received a shoebox filled with gifts, and it was at a point in his life which was a very low point in his life, and when he received that shoebox, it gave him hope for life,” she says.

Troyer says Nsengimana will speak about how he was able to find peace and forgive the people who killed his family. The free programs are Saturday, July 27th, at 11 a.m. at Mudd Valley Café in Walnut Creek, and at 6:30 p.m. at the New Philadelphia Nazarene Church, and Sunday, July 28th, at 10 am at the Encore Hotel in Berlin. 

“Accompanying Alex on this speaking tour is an African children’s choir. It’s called the Amani Children’s Choir and they’re from Uganda,” she says. “They will be doing like a 30-minute program, singing songs, dancing.”

Operation Christmas Child is an offshoot of the Samaritan’s Purse nonprofit organization. Volunteers fill shoeboxes with toys, hygiene products, and school supplies to send to less fortunate children around the world. For more information, visit samaritanspurse.org.

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