When Marine Staff Sergeant Curtis Fowler walked on his own for the first time in two years his family praised God for a healing that once seemed impossible. Curtis had been unable to walk normally after something went wrong during a procedure to repair a decade-old back injury suffered in Iraq. Curtis went into the…
Mission and History
Press Release Operation Christmas Child December 12-15-20
World War II Veteran Sews Hundreds of Quilts for Children’s Shoebox Gifts
Former U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Theron Jennings, 98, lives alone in a Savoy, Illinois, apartment where he sews quilts for children around the world. Since 2014, he has handmade more than 400 of these blankets, completing 160 in just the last year. Each one is lovingly packed into a shoebox gift with other toys and…
Programa Operation Heal Our Patriots motiva soldados heridos y sus parejas
Varalin never anticipated that the impact of her husband’s wartime brain injuries could be so devastating—that expressing any kind of emotion would become nearly impossible for him. “After 13 years of marriage, he still struggles to tell me how he’s feeling,” Varalin said. “He has to choose every day to feign emotion. He doesn’t laugh…
Clean Water Initiatives Help Keep Children Healthy
When Than was in elementary school she had to take turns with the other children carrying water from a well about 20 minutes away. The well was the only clean water source for the school, so every week a different team of students made several trips to bring back drinking water for their classmates. Now,…
Children’s Heart Project Medical Volunteer
Señalamos a los niños a Jesús en Eslovaquia
Katarina Horvathova used to live a nomadic life. But while she and her son, Daniel, lived in a shelter for a number of years, Daniel had the privilege of receiving a gift-filled Operation Christmas Child shoebox gift. His 8-year-old heart delighted in the toy airplane he found inside because he wanted to become a pilot…
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.…
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…











