This is an exciting time at Samaritan’s Purse Canada, as millions of children around the world are delighting in their Operation Christmas Child shoebox gifts! Many of them are also eagerly enrolling in our discipleship program, The Greatest Journey—a series of 12 Bible lessons that we offer to shoebox recipients. Over the past 30 years, more than 50 million boys and girls have been reached through these discipleship classes, including 25 million who have prayed to receive Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.
I want to share some stories of how the Lord is using The Greatest Journey in some of the most difficult places to share the Gospel.
Along Africa’s Ivory Coast is a small island that was known as a den of thieves and a center for occult practices. Local Christians tried three times to plant a church on the island, but they couldn’t break through the spiritual darkness—until they took a boat there and handed out more than a hundred shoebox gifts to children. Sixty-four of them then enrolled in The Greatest Journey and 43 graduated. That class turned out to be a beachhead for the Gospel. Now, dozens of adults and children attend a new church planted there.
In Cambodia, a girl named Chaya* gave her life to the Lord after she enrolled in The Greatest Journey. She asked her local pastor to help her start a house church in her village. Now, many families in the area come and worship and study the Bible together. And in the Middle East, Amira* not only gave her heart to Christ through The Greatest Journey but also led her siblings to faith and now has become a teacher leading our discipleship classes at an orphanage.
We praise God for the eternal impact of Operation Christmas Child and The Greatest Journey. God has used shoebox gifts to break hard ground spiritually and prepare the way for the Gospel. “He who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty” (Matthew 13:23).
Please join me in praying that God will continue to use The Greatest Journey to transform the lives of millions of children and build His kingdom.
Sincerely,
Franklin Graham
SHARING THE TREASURE GOD HAS GIVEN
It was the baby doll of Amira’s* dreams. When the 12-year-old opened her Operation Christmas Child shoebox to find the precious toy, she was filled with surprise and delight.
“I picked up the doll and hugged it tight to my chest,” she told us. That remarkable gift sparked Amira’s faith journey.
“I enrolled in The Greatest Journey,” she said. “It was the first time I had met together with others for prayer and digging deeply into the Word of God.”
Amira decided to follow Jesus halfway through the 12-lesson discipleship program. During prayer, she said, “The Holy Spirit whispered in my ears, ‘You are my daughter, you are a new creature, leave everything behind and follow me.'”
“I knew that decision would change my life forever,” she added. Three years later, 15-year-old Amira has worshiped Jesus Christ despite the daily pressure she faces to adhere to the majority religion in her country.
Our ministry partner recently worked with underground churches, including Amira’s, to deliver shoeboxes and share the Gospel message with 600 children in the region. Many of the boys and girls were from a local orphanage. Praise God, Amira received training and is guiding some of them through The Greatest Journey!
“I have a divine calling and passion to make an eternal impact on their lives,” she said, “to share the treasure that God has given me, and to help kids build strong relationships with the true God.”
“In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16, ESV)
“A MIRACLE HAPPENED IN THIS HOUSE TODAY”
Stepping out in bold faith, Mrs. Grace* went door to door in her community. She was inviting children to come to her church for an Operation Christmas Child outreach. But she risked rejection at every household, since most families were opposed to the Christian faith.
The night before, Mrs. Grace covered her plans in prayer—and God moved in a powerful way! “The Lord sent 57 children that day, and they heard the Gospel,” our ministry partner reported.
One of them was 9-year-old Samuel* who was not only overjoyed with his shoebox gifts, but also enrolled in The Greatest Journey. “Samuel was very attentive and responded well during the classes,” said our partner. “Mrs. Grace was impressed because Samuel loved to hear the Bible stories.”
But in other areas of his life, Samuel struggled. He couldn’t read and experienced other issues at school. Still, Samuel thrived in The Greatest Journey.
Then one day, Samuel’s dad overheard him reading a memory verse aloud. “The father was amazed and couldn’t believe that his son could now read,” said our partner. He credited Mrs. Grace and The Greatest Journey classes, and said, “There is a miracle that happened in this house today!”
But that’s not the only miracle. After witnessing how God worked in Samuel’s life, his father is now reading the colorful Bible that Samuel received upon graduating from The Greatest Journey. “The father told Mrs. Grace that he was glad that he owned a Bible now, and that he started reading in the book of Matthew,” our partner shared.
Your gifts help the Gospel to grow in some of the most unexpected and challenging places. Through The Greatest Journey, unreached children and their families encounter Jesus in a meaningful way. And as a result, God’s Word is blazing new trails in hearts, households, and homelands that desperately need Him.
