Jamyleth’s life changed for good when she was an 8-year-old girl living on a farm in Riobamba, Ecuador. It was then she received a gift-filled Operation Christmas Child shoebox. “I was very excited,” Jamyleth, now 22, recalls. “I had received presents from my parents before, but nothing like the shoebox. My favorite thing in the…
Operation Christmas Child
Five Reasons Students Should Volunteer
Calling All Students! Would you like to be part of a global network of people who are passionate about sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with children around the world? If so, prayerfully consider using your gifts to volunteer with Samaritan's Purse through Operation Christmas Child. Short-term and year-round opportunities are available. Join an army of…
Operation Christmas Child
She Received a Shoebox Gift in Ecuador, Now She’s Giving Them to Others
Diana grew up in Patate, a mountainous region of central Ecuador, in the shadow of the Tungurahua volcano that towers over the province. Her family was poor, so when birthdays and Christmas rolled around each year she would receive well wishes but never a present. Her parents didn’t attend church, but her big sister did.…
Operation Christmas Child
Shoebox Letter Prompts Girl in Mexico to Receive Christ
Jazmin had been longing for a doll of her own. When she received one at age 6 in an Operation Christmas Child shoebox, she thanked God for the gift. “It was very exciting,” Jazmin, now 17, recalled. “It wasn’t only a doll, it was a princess doll. I didn’t have anything like it. I thought…
Operation Christmas Child
Shoebox Packers Go From Devastation to Celebration
She peered through a busted window into the church basement and saw that floodwaters from Hurricane Helene had left a muddy mess. The Operation Christmas Child shoebox gift items that First Baptist Church of Damascus, Virginia, had collected during the year were now wet and filthy. Jaz, age 11, saw something that gave her hope—a…
Operation Christmas Child
Samaritan’s Purse Celebrates 10.5 Million Shoebox Gifts Collected for Children in Need
Samaritan's Purse Celebrates 10.5 Million Shoebox Gifts Collected for Children in Need BOONE, N.C., Jan. 17, 2020 Because of the generosity of donors across the United States, Operation Christmas Child, a project of Samaritan’s Purse, collected more than 8.9 million shoeboxes in 2019. Packed with fun toys, school supplies and hygiene items, these gifts bring joy and the eternal…
Operation Christmas Child
Family & Children’s Resources
Family and Children's Resources Our collection of child-friendly resources can help your church, group, or family catch the vision for packing shoebox gifts for boys and girls in need around the world. Be sure to check out all of the fun options! Featured Resource Lola's Lion :60 Second Trailer Lola, a lonely little girl living in…
Operation Christmas Child
Students, God Can Use You to Help Change a Child’s Eternity
You Can Help Send the Gospel to the Ends of the Earth You can communicate God’s love to a child in one of the furthest corners of the globe. Samaritan’s Purse sends gift-filled Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes to boys and girls in city slums, dense jungles, and other hard-to-reach places that may have never heard the Name…
Our Ministry
2023 Year-End Impact Report
Thank You Ukraine Response Children's Heart Project U.S. Disaster Relief Operation Christmas Child Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Ukraine Response Our teams evacuated more than 300 people and distributed emergency relief items. Read More Children's Heart Project In 2023, Children's Heart Project facilitated life-saving surgeries for 54 children born with congenital heart defects in Bolivia, Mongolia, and…
Operation Christmas Child
Spreading Good News and Great Joy in Cambodia
Franklin Graham joined local church leaders in sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with boys and girls while delivering gift-filled shoeboxes to them at a recent Operation Christmas Child outreach event in Cambodia’s capital. Eight-year-old Votey received a shoebox, making her one of more than 1 million children in Cambodia to receive such a gift…
