If Vanua Levu isn’t the end of the Earth, it’s close. Rugged and isolated, the slender island is located 1,100 nautical miles northeast of New Zealand in the South Pacific, just east of the Coral Sea. It’s one of the 330 specks on the map that make up the Fiji archipelago. Ignored by most of…
Operation Christmas Child
2026 Virtual Connect Videos
2026Virtual Connect Videos Welcome, watch-party hosts! At Samaritan’s Purse, we are grateful to God for your partnership in ministry! To continue to equip you well in your service, the Operation Christmas Child 2026 Virtual Connect is just for you. Below you will find a collection of videos created for this event, bringing you up close to…
Operation Christmas Child
Young Central Asian Shepherds Receive Shoebox Gifts
A simple drive through the countryside can become something special. Yusif*, a volunteer leader in Central Asia with Operation Christmas Child, was traveling with several team members to a ministry meeting when he spotted two shepherd boys tending their flock near the highway. Remembering that he had some gift-filled shoeboxes as well as copies of…
Operation Christmas Child
Shoebox Letter Prompts Girl in Mexico to Receive Christ
Jazmin had been longing for a doll of her own. When she received one at age 6 in an Operation Christmas Child shoebox, she thanked God for the gift. “It was very exciting,” Jazmin, now 17, recalled. “It wasn’t only a doll, it was a princess doll. I didn’t have anything like it. I thought…
Operation Christmas Child
Shoebox Packers Go From Devastation to Celebration
She peered through a busted window into the church basement and saw that floodwaters from Hurricane Helene had left a muddy mess. The Operation Christmas Child shoebox gift items that First Baptist Church of Damascus, Virginia, had collected during the year were now wet and filthy. Jaz, age 11, saw something that gave her hope—a…
Our Ministry
Newsletter December 2025
Franklin Graham Update | December Franklin Graham Update | December Shining Gospel Light in Jamaica Dear Friend, I just got back from Jamaica where our teams continue to bring relief to hurting people in the wake of Hurricane Melissa. The storm may have passed, but the damage it left is horrible. In Black River, near where the deadly Category 5 storm made landfall, we've set…
50 Years of Ministry
Good News and Great Joy for Children Around the World
The summer of 1993, Franklin Graham received a call from England asking if he would fill shoeboxes with gifts for kids in war-torn Eastern Europe. Familiar with the suffering there from his recent visits to the region, Franklin agreed. Around Thanksgiving, his office received another call from England asking about the gifts. Franklin remembered the…
Operation Christmas Child
Twin Sisters Pack Hundreds of Shoebox Gifts
Twin sisters Leabele McLeod and Laralea McLaughlin grew up in a poor family that struggled to make ends meet. They were so thankful any time a friend or neighbor offered them food or other essentials. Now, at age 88, Leabele and Laralea are giving back to children growing up in difficult situations. The sisters have…
Operation Christmas Child
Volunteers Know ‘Each Shoebox Is a Missionary’
When Carol and Pat Nelson volunteer with Operation Christmas Child, they know first-hand how much each gift can mean. Twelve years ago, the Nelsons packed their first shoebox for Operation Christmas Child and sent it off with a letter and a picture. Seven months later, they received a thank-you letter written in French from a…
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…
