“Brother Graham, I’m Mary. Gotcha some shoeboxes for God. Where do you want ’em?” That’s how Mary Damron introduced herself to Franklin Graham, 30 years ago. A coal-miner’s wife from West Virginia with a great heart for children, Mary became a global ambassador for Operation Christmas Child during just the second year of the project.…
Mid-Year Report
Distribución de cajas lleva nueva vida y un nuevo ministerio a Ecuador
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…
Las cajas de regalos abren puertas en la Acapulco dañada por la tempestad
Children and many of their parents gathered together under the large cobertizo in La Barra de Coyuca. The young people of this small town just west of Acapulco recall, as if yesterday, the nightmare of Hurricane Otis. Even now, when it begins to rain or the winds pick up enough to shake their roofs, children…
Edward y Kristy Graham distribuyen cajas de regalos de Operation Christmas Child en Ecuador
Each year, Samaritan’s Purse distributes millions of shoebox gifts around the world to children in need. Edward Graham, the youngest son of Franklin Graham, and his wife Kristy were among those who recently traveled to Ecuador to help distribute Operation Christmas Child gifts and celebrate the graduation of those who completed The Greatest Journey, a…
Shanika & Sherika and the Mittens
100 Million Shoebox Gifts Collected
Evilyn Pinnow, a then 12-year-old from Wisconsin, traveled more than 5,000 miles across the United States collecting items to place inside Operation Christmas Child’s symbolic 100 millionth shoebox before she headed to the Dominican Republic to place it into the hands of a precious child in need. In California, friends of the ministry added socks…
Family Resources
Focus on the Family Our friends at Focus on the Family put together this video about one family’s tradition of packing shoebox gifts with Operation Christmas Child. How can you start a shoebox tradition with your own family? Explore our resources below! 7 Ideas for Family Impact Pack shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child…
Pensando local y globalmente con Operation Christmas Child
Ben Smith knows the power of a good story and the difference it can make in people’s lives. Hearing stories about how Operation Christmas Child helped bring the Gospel to children around the world fueled his involvement in the Samaritan’s Purse project from the very beginning. As a child, he packed shoebox gifts with his…
Shoebox Gifts Encourage Venezuelan Migrants in Colombia
Well more than 2 million Venezuelans have left their nation over the past few years, many fleeing to neighboring Colombia. They’re leaving because the situation in Venezuela is bleak—with runaway inflation, increasing crime, and critical shortages of food and medicine. As the economy collapses, families simply can’t afford to eat. Some Venezuelans go back and…