Lima, Peru—a city 10 million people call home—is a vibrant place of ministry for Operation Christmas Child. Decades of Samaritan’s Purse outreach events in this South American country have already enabled 5 million children to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ—and the work continues. The Peru National Leadership Team, made up of six experienced, passionate…
Newsletter September 2025
Shoebox Gift Distribution Brings New Life, New Ministry in 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…
Discipling Children in the Dumps of Cambodia
Samnang* comes from a family of scavengers, also known as waste pickers—people who earn a meager living by collecting recyclable materials from garbage dumps, streets, and landfills of Cambodia. But God used the new items inside the shoebox gift she received at age 13 to help draw her to a relationship with Christ. Today, she…
Flowers Become Blessings Through Samaritan’s Purse
Jaci Snowden loves flowers. “Flowers make me feel close to God,” Jaci said as she cut colorful zinnias in her backyard garden for a bouquet. “They are His wonderful masterpieces created in Christ Jesus for a purpose.” For 10-year-old Jaci, part of that purpose is to grow beautiful flowers, arrange them into delightful bouquets, and…
God Is at Work in Benin’s Furthest Reaches
In the early morning the long wooden boats motored gently across Nokoue Lake, past the small craft propelled by colorful sails, past the fishermen tending and mending large traps, toward the water dwellings of Ganvie. Secured in the wooden craft were hundreds of Operation Christmas Child shoebox gifts destined for an outreach event at a…
Shoeboxes Go to the Very Ends of the Earth
Baljinnyam’s address might as well be “the ends of the earth.” To reach the valley where his two gers are located, you must drive more than nine hours west of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, to the province center of Bayankhongor. Since this is the province where Baljinnyam lives, you might think you’ve arrived, but the true journey…
A Father in Heaven
Claudia Molina has helped pack hundreds of shoebox gifts in her time as a project leader for Operation Christmas Child, and with each box, her prayer remains the same: that God would use each gift to touch a child’s heart, just as He did hers. As a little girl in the central neighborhood of San…
Island with No Power, No Airport Receives Shoebox Gifts
The small island of Enubirr has no electrical power and no airport. Located in the central Pacific between the Philippines and Hawaii, Enubirr is part of the Republic of the Marshall Islands and home to just over 1,000 people. Most residents work on the neighboring island of Roi-Namur, which is leased to the U.S. government…
‘Thank You So Much for Bringing Me to Jesus’
Millions of Operation Christmas Child shoebox gifts are packed for boys and girls in need around the world each year, many of which include an email or physical address inviting the child to write back. If you have ever packed one of those boxes and wished you could hear from the child who received it,…