Gracie O’Loughlin regularly witnesses groups working shoulder-to-shoulder for a common purpose as part of her role with Operation Christmas Child, a project of Samaritan’s Purse that shares the Gospel with children around the world through outreach events and shoebox gifts. When she and several colleagues recently volunteered with U.S. Disaster Relief, another project of Samaritan’s…
Operation Christmas Child
Building Toy Cars to Help Build God’s Kingdom
Ken Postema lives in Western Michigan, about 15 miles east of Grand Rapids, on 10 wooded acres that he purchased 51 years ago when he was a senior in high school. Tall white pines, maples, tulip poplars, and hybrid poplars dot the lush, rolling landscape surrounding Ken’s beautifully handcrafted house, which he built himself. “Some…
Operation Christmas Child
Why I Pack Shoeboxes: One-Word Witnesses
On social media this fall, Operation Christmas Child asked shoebox packers to pick one word that describes why they send gifts to boys and girls in need around the world. We thought you’d be encouraged to see some of the responses from our volunteers and staff as you prayerfully prepare to fill your own boxes…
Operation Christmas Child
Outsiders Welcomed In
Outsiders. That’s what the Baka people are known as in the Central African nations of Gabon and Cameroon. Members of this unreached people group are relegated to the margins of society and given little access to education or social services. Tragically, in addition to this discrimination, they have virtually no personal access to the Gospel…
Operation Christmas Child
Wheaton College Students Partner with Operation Christmas Child in Ecuador
Students from Wheaton College traveled to Ecuador in December with Operation Christmas Child, coming alongside the local church to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ and joining in the joy as children pealed open their one-of-a-kind shoebox gifts. Samaritan’s Purse has long worked in Ecuador, first delivering gift-filled shoeboxes there in 1997 and in…
Operation Christmas Child
30 Years of OCC
Praising God for 30 Years of Operation Christmas Child Since 1993, God has used Samaritan’s Purse to deliver over 200 million Operation Christmas Child shoebox gifts to children in need and disciple 50 million of these boys and girls. When Franklin Graham agreed to fill shoeboxes with toys and other fun items for children in war-torn…
Our Ministry
Operation Heal Our Patriots 2022 Special Report
Hope for the Journey Dear Friend, The wounded veterans who participate in Operation Heal Our Patriots tell us some heartbreaking stories. After multiple combat deployments, many return home with post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, and other physical and emotional wounds. All of the couples who come to our Samaritan Lodge Alaska are in fragile…
Our Ministry
2023 Year-End Impact Report
Thank You Ukraine Response Children's Heart Project U.S. Disaster Relief Operation Christmas Child Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Ukraine Response Our teams evacuated more than 300 people and distributed emergency relief items. Read More Children's Heart Project In 2023, Children's Heart Project facilitated life-saving surgeries for 54 children born with congenital heart defects in Bolivia, Mongolia, and…
Operation Christmas Child
A Family Transformed
Carol used to sleep on the streets because she spent all her money on drugs and alcohol and couldn’t afford rent. Sometimes she didn’t have food for her children. Often, she didn’t even know where they were. Life didn’t improve after she was married. Her husband, Daniel, often came home drunk and wanted nothing to…
Operation Christmas Child
Ohio Farmers Influence their Community and the World by Packing Shoeboxes
Drive down River Styx Road just outside Wadsworth, Ohio, and you’ll come across the “Styx and Stones Farm” sign. Pull in the driveway on any given Saturday morning in the fall, and it will be tough to find a spot to park. On one edge of the driveway sits a barn that’s at least 175…
