"Operation Random Christmas Blessing"

Baron Batch of the Pittsburgh Steelers loves his friends and family…but he’s not getting them Christmas presents this year. Instead, he’s making Christmas merry and bright for the Knight family, our Give1 family of the week...a family he's never met.




“I guess the idea of buying material things for people that have everything that they need just was heavy on my heart, especially after being over seas doing mission work,” said Batch. “Thinking about what the amount of money I would spend on all of my gifts could do for someone else that really needed it, I wanted to do something randomly good for someone else.”

So instead of buying all the gifts he had waiting in online shopping carts, he added up the total. He decided he would donate that money instead…but to whom? Here’s what God did to help Baron:

• Monday, Baron had coffee with a teammate who mentioned he and his wife were thinking about adopting.


• Baron decided he would support an adoption.


• Baron walked home and prayed, “God just please bring a family to me that needs a financial blessing so this all works out.”


• He got home, checked Facebook, and found a message from a friend from high school. This friend was asking people to support the Knights this week on Give1Save1 so they can bring their adorable Emme home from Ethiopia.


• Baron smiled and said, “God, you are too good.”

Baron told us, “God let me know I was doing the right thing. He couldn’t have made it more obvious.”

To get more people involved in what he calls “Operation Random Christmas Blessing”, he is asking people to follow him on Twitter. For every follower he gets this week and until Christmas, he will donate 25 cents, up to the amount he had pledged from all those online shopping carts that are now empty. “And no I’m not going to tell you guys how much that amount was until after Christmas day, so it will kind of be like a Christmas present to all of you as well! All I will say is that if we meet this goal it’s going to be a huge blessing to an awesome family that I have never met!”

The fun twist in this story is that Operation Random Christmas Blessing turned out to be not so random after all. As God would have it, Baron and the Knight family are all from Midland, Texas. And just as Baron came up with this idea, then committed to supporting an adoption, this just happened to be the Knights’ week on Give1, which is what prompted that Facebook message…(Anyone else get chills?)

Baron said he’s gotten more joy than he ever expected from this project already. “I thought I was giving the blessing, but I’m the one who has been blessed this week. People are sending me heartfelt messages and sharing their stories. It’s been a blessing.” He said he learned unexpected lessons, too. “I learned to listen to my heart and follow through on those tugs at my spirit. It has strengthened my faith.”

I asked Baron what his friends and family thought about this challenge, given that they wouldn’t be getting presents from him. He laughed and said, “I don’t think my family knows!”

When he started this challenge, Baron had 14,375 followers on Twitter. As I write this, he is up to 15,212…so his commitment is now over $200! (And we still have more than a week to go until Christmas!)

Do I even need to ask you what to do next? Follow Baron Batch on Twitter! It won’t cost you a penny…just his. Or join Baron’s giving this Christmas season and donate to the Knight family if you haven’t already.

Baron, we wish you a very merry Christmas.

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