Blair Barger will delivered an Emily Box to Mongolia.
An East Tennessee teen is headed to the other side of the world for a mission trip.
She will not only share the gospel but also memories of her little sister.
Sixteen year old Blair Barger is going on the trip of her life to touch the lives of others.
Barbara Robertson with Samaritan's Purse said, "It's almost a miracle really. It's not something that very many kids get the opportunity to do. You can't just sign up. It's not like going on a church youth trip to the beach or the mountains or whatever."
Blair submitted written and video applications for a Samaritan's Purse mission trip. She is one of 20 young adults who will journey to Mongolia later this month.
"This will be the first time I've ever been out of the country and I actually get to deliver a box so I'm really excited," Blair said.
She'll deliver donated shoe boxes packed full of gifts for needy children.
Blair has stuffed shoe boxes in Knoxville for years as part of the Samaritan's Purse project called Operation Christmas Child.
Soon she'll have the opportunity to hand deliver the shoe box gifts and the gospel.
"We're going to be ministering to the dump children there and we were told to bring hygiene items and toys for the kids there and we're just going to probably play with them and tell them about God and Jesus," she said.
Barbara said, "Samaritan's Purse is extremely particular about the people they choose to represent them and rightfully so, so it's really special that Blair gets to go."
She knows the whole Barger family including Emily.
"Emily was my sister," Blair said. "She passed away from cancer when she was seven years old. And Barbara Robertson came up with the idea to do the Emily Boxes in memory of her in 2008 after she passed away."
Blair is packing one extra special box to take to Mongolia. It's an Emily Box filled with things her sister liked.
"Her favorite color was pink so I'm going to put pink stuff in there and princess stuff. And then I'm going to go to Mongolia and find a girl who is the same age, seven, and liked the same things Emily did and deliver the box and tell her about Emily," she said.
Each Emily Box includes a copy of the Emily Letter.
"It just tells the story about Emily's life and about how she loved butterflies and how she loved packing shoe boxes," she said.
Blair Barger will experience what the Samaritan's Purse shoe boxes mean to children on the other side of the world.
She'll share her love of a child from East Tennessee, her little sister, Emily.
"Through the shoe boxes her memory can live on," she said.
Samaritan's Purse
Attn: Amy Lowrey
P.O. Box 3000
Boone, NC 28607
828.262.1980
Mention Blair Barger's name if you want your contribution to go toward her expenses for the mission trip.