Sending the Gospel to the Ends of the Earth
Every $44 provides a child with a shoebox gift and the opportunity to hear the Gospel.
Samaritan’s Purse is going around the world to share God’s love with children in need through Operation Christmas Child shoebox gifts.
We partner with local churches and volunteers in more than 170 countries and territories to proclaim the Good News using gift-filled shoeboxes. We train and equip these partners with Gospel materials that help them communicate the message of God’s love to boys and girls in a clear, consistent way. Using these colorful resources, churches evangelize their communities in ways that often would not have been possible without the accompanying shoebox gifts. Most shoebox recipients are also invited to participate in our follow-up discipleship program, The Greatest Journey, where they learn to follow the Lord and share Him with others.
Because every child needs Christ, Samaritan’s Purse sends Operation Christmas Child shoebox gifts to boys and girls living in major cities, dense jungles, arid deserts, war zones, on remote islands, and along lofty mountain ranges. We work closely with local teams to bring these special gifts to children in need—even to hard-to-reach areas where there are few believers or where many have long been hostile to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Some of our newest initiatives increase the accessibility of our resources: translating materials into minor languages, using audio translations where there is no written language, developing Braille resources for blind and visually impaired children, and reaching the Deaf community.
In addition to packing your own gift-filled shoeboxes, you can also Build a Shoebox Online. Or, you can simply give a monetary gift that Samaritan’s Purse will use to pack and deliver a shoebox to a child in a hard-to-reach location.
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- Shoeboxes Packed and Processed
- Shipping Container
- Country Arrival
- Local Church Partner
- Outreach Event and Gospel Presentation
- Child Receives Shoebox
- The Greatest Journey
- Multiplication of Believers and Churches
Great Lengths, Great Effort
“We go to great lengths, great effort to take these boxes to children in the most remote parts of the world. Why? Because we want children everywhere to hear the Gospel and know that God loves them.”
Meet Kavari
Kavari received a gift-filled shoebox through his school in Namibia. Before being enrolled at this school for the Deaf, he had never taken classes before or even met another Deaf person. Kavari was thrilled to see all the gifts packed inside of his Operation Christmas Child shoebox, especially the soccer ball.
Yet, it wasn’t a toy that excited him the most—it was The Greatest Gift storybook. In addition to hearing the Gospel before he received his shoebox, Kavari and his classmates also received this booklet that shares 11 Scripture stories and invites children to follow Jesus. “I learned about creation, how we should love one another, and how the kids in the Bible were excited to see God,” he said.
Kavari soon received Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior, and now loves sharing Him with others.
Meet Fernanda
Hurricane Otis, a Category 5-storm, left Acapulco, Mexico, and surrounding towns in ruins in October 2023. Samaritan’s Purse responded shortly after, working in Jesus’ Name alongside local churches to provide water filtration systems, shelter, food, mosquito netting, and solar lanterns.
Then we worked with hundreds of Christian congregations to host Operation Christmas Child outreach events, sharing the hope of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and providing shoebox gifts for children in need—children who’d lost everything, including Fernanda.
In her shoebox, Fernanda was glad to receive crayons, notebooks, and a fluffy white bear, along with other fun things. The outreach event was an uplifting experience for her and other children in the midst of a difficult time period.
“I found some kids from school there. We played a fun game of Piojo Juancho. We prayed. They taught us how the heavens and the earth were made, how God made the water and the animals, and Adam and Eve,” Fernanda recounted. “They taught us about Jesus, too.”
Meet Chadelfa
Chadelfa received an Operation Christmas Child shoebox in the nation of Suriname, along South America’s Atlantic coast. Many of her people group, the Saramaccans, live deep in the jungles of this small country and few have heard the Good News of Jesus Christ.
At the outreach event, she heard the Gospel and received a ruler, pencils, crayons, a yo-yo, and washcloth, among other items. She went on to participate in The Greatest Journey.
“I’ve learned you must be kind and not curse anybody,” she said. It’s a simple application but a profound one for a child who is hearing about God’s ways for the first time.
Meet Princess
Princess lives with her grandmother in the Philippines. Sometimes they don’t have enough food for three small meals a day. Princess rarely see her parents, who left the remote mountain village where she still lives in hopes of finding work in a large city. She was once an anxious and worried child.
But, Princess’s life has now changed—she’s been given a new heart and the peace that only Jesus Christ can offer. God used an Operation Christmas Child shoebox and The Greatest Journey discipleship classes to bring her to faith. She embraces God’s love for her and trusts in His power over her life.
“I wanted Jesus to save me. Now, I am more confident because He is with me,” she said.
