Sarah Shoop, a Samaritan's Purse volunteer, blogs from Haiti.

This December I traveled to Haiti for my third trip to volunteer as a nurse with Samaritan’s Purse in the Cite Soleil medical clinic.

While there, I had an unexpected opportunity to also be a part of Operation Christmas Child. I was beyond excited to have the chance to be a part of this awesome once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!

Our journey began at 4 a.m. as our small team awoke from our slumber outside under the stars to the voice of Bill Montgomery, an American missionary, praying for blessing over the day. He serves in the mountain community of Pays Pourri (meaning rotten country) where we would soon be heading. Bill had asked SP for help establishing a cholera clinic in the mountain village, where medical care is scarce, during the height of the cholera outbreak. Several months later the OCC gift distribution was organized.

Our team was filled with excitement to begin our journey and show these children love!

We were joined by Yvrose (pronounced Eve Rose) and the 24 orphans that she has taken in. Although they have close to nothing themselves, she teaches them to have a servant’s heart and show Christ’s love to others. Dressed in Santa hats, they couldn’t wait to share their joy and faith with the children of the village.

We each took our backpack of supplies and headed to the base of the mountain, where we packed 15 mules with over 500 shoe box gifts and extra water! Six containers of shoe boxes that didn’t fit on the mules were gathered up eagerly by several Haitian women who balanced them on their heads for the entire hike up the mountain! I was so impressed with their poise and balance. I was nervous of slipping off the edge with only my backpack and they managed this incredible feat wearing old flipflops, guiding mules, and rarely stopping for water!

I had never climbed a mountain and had certainly never traveled with a pack of mules carrying supplies. It was absolutely amazing! The hike was over 3,500 feet and took more than four hours. The views were breathtaking; God’s beauty in nature is indescribable in the mountains of Haiti.

When we reached the village—which consisted of two schools, a cholera treatment center, and a church—hundreds of children came running down the path to greet us. They knew they were having a special Christmas party, but they had no idea they would be receiving presents.

We gathered everyone into the church where they sang Christmas songs, played games, listened to a very moving sermon, and also had a special feast. The children were counted as dinner was being prepared. We realized there were well over 500 children. We wondered if we would run out of food and presents, but rather than let fear rule our hearts our team prayed and remembered Jesus multiplying loaves of bread and fish and trusted His provision would be enough.

Yvrose’s children helped serve the dinner—there was plenty for all the children—and performed Christmas carols. Their love and joy to serve was overflowing; we were all so touched by these precious children.

After dinner it was time for the shoe boxes. Many children were shocked at first when they received their present and couldn’t believe it was theirs to keep. Some came running and skipping out of the church filled with laughter and joy. Others were crying as they were overcome by the reality that the gifts belonged to them. Most had never received a gift in their lives and had no real possessions of their own. These presents were life changing for them.

God had known far in advance how many children would be there and we had enough presents for each child—including Yvrose’s orphans, who never expected anything.

Everyone was full of excitement as we watched the children, until we saw one little boy crying with his grandfather. He had been helping take care of the mules and wasn’t in the line of children to receive gifts and no present had been left for him. When one of Yvrose’s children saw the little boy crying he handed over his shoe box gift. How amazing to show such love. These kids were truly living as examples of Christ.

As I watched the children during the church service and gift distribution I was brought to tears as a worship song from my home church, Fellowship Bible, in Nashville came to mind. Our worship leader, Ronnie Freeman, recently shared a new song he had written called Orphan, and it became a reality for me during this unforgettable day.

These children are not orphans anymore. They may have nothing according to the standards of the world but they have everything through Christ, who has adopted them. He is their father!

Special thanks to Mike Dytynyshyn for helping me write this story and allowing me to be a part of this special day with Samaritan’s Purse, and Ronnie Freeman for allowing me to share this song. I’m so honored to be able to volunteer with Samaritan's Purse, which is such a wonderful organization that is truly doing God’s work.

A missions group from an Australian church called Gymea Baptist is currently in Cambodia, helping with Samaritan's Purse projects. Jes Meacham, a member of the team, blogs about one day of the trip.

After breakfast the team went to a local village, Tukotlaor, to start making BioSand household water filters. We met up with some more of the Samaritans Purse team, who introduced us to some locals who had been volunteering on the project.

Along with the help of the volunteers, the team began the filter building process. To start off, molds were oiled and the bolts were fastened. Then came the mixing of the cement, the task that separated the boys from the men (and the tired girls). After all this was done, the cement was poured into the molds and left to set for tomorrow.

Jason, a Samaritan's Purse staff member, showed us one of the functioning filters already in use at one of the local houses. It was incredible to see the difference in the murky, muddy water compared to the clean, clear water.

We found out later in the day that Tukotlaor, the name of the village, actually means “Water No Good” in Khmer. It’s nice to know that after today (when we install and create some more filters) that they'll need another village name.

All the hard work gave the team some serious food cravings, and so we headed back to the community house for a homemade lunch. For the next couple of hours the team got some time to cool down and restore their energy. Some going for walks, some journaling, some playing crazy card games.

Once the energy levels were restored, the team headed to another village with the SP guys to see some of the work done by the project, Seeds of Hope. This is a project that seeks to help families with farming and agricultural skills so they can grow their income.

Some of the resources provided include FAITH gardens, fishponds, compost housing, fruit trees, chicken coops, pigpens, and cows.

The incredible thing about this project is that they don't just seek to give the families things and then leave them, or give the families the impression that SP is there to hand out “free stuff.” They do it in a way that makes the family get involved.

For example, SP doesn't just give them a cow and go on their way, but gives them a pregnant cow where they keep the calf. This way, the family learns to look after firstly the mother, and then the calf. They thus become self sufficient and not reliant on SP.

Our team was really encouraged about this way of working with Cambodians. It’s a really great way to give something more than an item, but an actual skill.

Dan Emmons, construction team leader, blogs from Kesennuma, Japan.

When we first started to work on Saito San’s house, it was hard to take in all the devastation that surrounded it. The house was located in an area of Kesennuma that had suffered terribly from the tsunami. Not only had the great wave wreaked havoc on the neighborhood, but this house was also within the area that had been set on fire for three days and nights. Gas and diesel from the fuel storage facilities for the fishing and shipping industry had been toppled over by the giant wave, and burst into flames.

When you looked around the neighborhood, you saw stacks of crumpled cars that were burnt beyond recognition, burned out apartment buildings, and empty lots where houses once stood. Just a couple of blocks away was the haunting sight of a huge ship beached alongside a highway over a quarter mile from the bay.

One day during tea time, I asked Saito San and his wife where they were during the tsunami. They said they had been staying on the second floor of their house because they were afraid to leave since their grandchildren might be on their way home from elementary school, and they didn’t want to chance missing them.

Then they told us about that terrible night—the flames that stopped just a block from their house, the explosions from all the propane tanks floating in the burning water, the terrible noises from all the debris swirling around their house in the darkness.

They pointed to an empty lot on one side of their house and said a father and son had perished in a home that was once there. They pointed at a lot on the other side and said a mother and daughter had perished there. Over 20 of their neighbors died that terrible day.

Our little crew of carpenters finished reconstructing Saito San’s home, and as we had a final prayer with them, my mind wandered to the little plot of soil in Saito San’s front yard. Saito San had planted a garden after the tsunami, and it still had daikon radishes and cabbages in the tilled rows.

This garden stuck in my mind more than all the destruction that surrounded it. It was a garden planted with hope. Seeds were tenderly placed in tilled soil in hopes that the earth that had been covered by seawater and destruction would still produce a crop.

My hope is that seeds of faith have been planted in the soil of souls still haunted by the events of that tragic day—seeds that will produce a crop in spite of all the darkness and destruction around it.

Laquita Norrington, wife of country director Don Norrington, blogs from Ecuador.

What a week!!! It began with a dynamite volunteer team from Tennessee arriving in Loja to assist in the building of Renacer Church. And ended by blessing children in a remote community with shoe box gifts from Operation Christmas Child.

Renacer Church has been meeting in groups in houses around the city since 1995, led by Pastor Phatricio. The pastor’s vision for the church includes a place where all its members may worship together, an area where evangelism workshops can be held as well as counseling, a recreation area for youth, and an area for housing the Bible institute that Pastor Phatricio now leads in homes.

The team arrived Sunday evening and prepared for a busy week. After devotions, we were having breakfast when Pastor Phatricio arrived to welcome the group and invite them to hike to a waterfall near Zamora one day during the week. The group also hoped to see an Operation Christmas Child shoe box distribution and they asked if that was possible.

The shoe box gifts for Ecuador had arrived in Guayaquil just a few days earlier. Before we left Quito for Loja, we had been told that it would take at least a week for them to clear customs and then several days for them to reach their destinations across the country. But that morning, the pastor indicated that he was expecting delivery by midweek. You could see a glimmer of hope in everyone’s eyes.

Tuesday afternoon we found that the boxes had actually arrived and that we would indeed be a part of an OCC distribution. The team was elated—and then we found out that not only would we be distributing shoe boxes, but that we would do it in the same community where we would hike to the waterfall.

You may think none of this is really exciting, but when you hear a little background information you realize that the events were not just exciting, they were divinely orchestrated.

The community by the waterfall once was completely closed to outsiders. I asked how the pastor had gained access and this is what he told me.

The name of this Shuar community is Machinaza. The village had a church that claimed to practice a traditional religion, and no other denominations were allowed to enter.

Renacer Church asked God to open doors to send missionaries. The opportunity came when the Zamora River flooded Machinaza. The church immediately sent aid—milk for the children, food for the entire community, and supplies for rebuilding shelters. During this time a young girl was bitten by a “rotten-leaf snake,” which almost always causes the victim to lose the limb that was bitten. Church members treated the snakebite and held prayer services for girl. She was healed without losing her leg.

Because of the disaster relief provided by the missionaries, the evangelical church was invited into the community and Machinaza Church was established. It is currently the only church in the village, and it was the location of our shoe box distribution.

The hike took over two hours and was quite treacherous in places. Most of us ended up wet from crossing the stream on rocks, some ended up with mud, and a few actually had cuts and scrapes to be dressed.


The village welcomed us warmly and the children courteously lined up according to gender and age. They wiggled and giggled in lines while waiting for their gifts. The pastor presented a brief message and the shoe box gifts were distributed.

Faces lit up as the boys and girls lifted the lids and saw the many gifts inside. Some had personal letters and pictures, and team members translated them to the children and their parents. The joy of seeing the children receiving these gifts and knowing that they are actually receiving the love of Christ was truly exciting.

Yes, we hiked for over two hours to see an incredible waterfall. Yes, we were tired, wet, and dirty. Yes, this team worked long days doing very physical labor. Yes, they ate food that was not what they were accustomed to eating. Yes, they could have used more rest and sleep.

Did they complain? No. They are faithful servants who brought real blessings to the communities of Loja and Machinaza. They have blessed and been blessed. We were honored to host them.