Joanna was quick to respond to Tyrel and asked him a question which definitely got him more confused than before. He expected her to either ignore his message or just reply with an awkward excuse. In both cases, he would feel comfortable enough to move on, but this was not the case.
Instead of replying to his question, Joana asked Tyrel if he knew about an organization called Samaritan’s Purse. The teenager had a feeling that the name was very familiar, and thought into his past. After a few moments, many of his childhood memories suddenly came rushing back to him.
Feeling Drawn
Despite not having anything in common or any sort of actual connection, Tyrel could not help but feel drawn to this mysterious stranger online. He was sure that there was no way they had ever met in person and could not figure out why she would not stop sending him friend requests.
Tyrel decided to get to the bottom of this and told his family and friends that he wanted to contact the Filipino woman. Everyone warned him against it, and about the dangers of online strangers, but Tyrel couldn’t help himself. So he decided to send her a message...
Replying to the Mystery Woman
It was clear to Tyrel that there was a certain risk in responding to a stranger online. It could be a man hiding behind a fake Facebook account, or a hacker trying to get a hold of his personal information. Still, curiosity got the best of him and he simply had to know who Joana was.
Tyrel didn’t mince words and got straight to the point. In his message to Joana, he typed: “How do you know me?” and hit send. Tyrel refreshed his feed every few minutes before finally receiving a reply. But nothing could prepare him for what the Filipina girl told him.
Operation Christmas Child
Tyrel recalled being part of a special program back when he was just seven years old. The program was called Operation Christmas Child, and it took up the charitable mission of sending shoeboxes full of gifts to kids who were less fortunate. The operation was run by a non-profit called Samaritan’s Purse.
Tyrel began smiling when fond memories of packing shoeboxes with various amenities began flooding his mind. The kids put everything from small toys to toiletries and even school supplies in these boxes. Still, it wasn’t clear to him why Joana contacted him about something he did as a child.
A Surprising Gift
Tyrel was curious and asked Joana how she knew him from Operation Christmas Child since the kids who volunteered there were all from the United States. Joana then explained that she was the recipient of one of the shoeboxes made by Tyrel more than a decade before. Sure enough, this blew Tyrel's mind.
At first, Tyrel was completely shocked at the idea that this Filipina woman would remember him after more than a decade. For him, this was just a fun activity at the time and didn’t mean very much. While Tyrel was pleasantly surprised by the idea, his family felt otherwise.