Doris Row started packing Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes on her ranch in Tishomingo, Oklahoma, in 1995 after her 13-year-old son died at Christmastime the year before. She was determined not to live in grief, but to do something good to help overcome it. She chose to begin packing shoebox gifts for children in need around…
Our Ministry
Greta Van Susteren Christmas Special on Newsmax
Greta Van Susteren recently traveled to Jamaica to cover the relief work of Samaritan’s Purse on the island after Hurricane Melissa. She will be spotlighting the ministry of Operation Christmas Child as we delivered shoebox gifts to children in need. Her Christmas TV special aired at 4 p.m. ET on Christmas Eve and 4 p.m.…
Operation Christmas Child
Making Disciples in Mongolia
Light, sky, land, and water appeared out of nothing. Next came vegetation, animals, and mankind. God called forth all these things simply by speaking, “Let there be…” (Genesis 1). While the story of creation may sound familiar, it is an entirely new concept for many boys and girls in Mongolia. At Living Stone Church in…
Military Marriages Experience Restoration in Alaska
When Javy Castro and his wife arrived at Samaritan Lodge Alaska for Week 6 of the 2026 Operation Heal Our Patriots’ summer season, he thought he knew why they had come. However, during his stay at camp, he came to a surprising realization. “I came out here to fix my relationship with my wife,” he…
50 Years of Ministry
Delivering Christmas to Children in Uganda
In late 2002, Franklin Graham gathered with musician Bono (of U2) and the Brooklyn Tabernacle Youth Choir at New York’s JFK International Airport for a special send-off. More than 80,000 Operation Christmas Child shoebox gifts were loaded onto an Antonov 225, the world’s largest cargo jet at the time, to be transported to Ugandan children…
Animals, Agriculture & Livelihoods
Planting Seeds of Faith in Famine-Scarred Niger
The lean season was once a season of despair for many families in Karofane, a village in rural Niger. Halima,* a mother of ten, would watch hopelessly as her children grew thin and weak. Their hair would turn brittle and bleached—common signs of malnutrition. “I would take them to the traditional healer, but still they…
Crisis & Disaster Response
Thanking God for a New Home at Christmas
It’s almost unbelievable that Earnestine Reese survived the EF4 tornado that barreled through Lee County, Alabama, on March 3, 2019—killing 23 people, leveling neighborhoods, and displacing families. As the storm hit, she huddled in her bathroom with her daughter, son-in-law, and grandson, praying for God’s protection. The twister tore directly over their house, ripping off…
Operation Christmas Child
The Gospel Transforms a Teen in Cambodia
Living in a country steeped in false religions, Phirun’s* faith in Jesus Christ is tested. But the teenager does not let that stop her joy from being complete. Not that long ago—without God in her life—she lied, stole, and persistently bullied others. The change in her life began when she attended the lessons of The…
Crisis & Disaster Response
Helping Homeowners After Flooding in Spain
Our Disaster Assistance Response Team is hard at work in eastern Spain after the region received over a foot of rain on October 29, causing the Magro and Turia river basins and the Poyo canal to overflow. The flash flooding claimed the lives of over 200 people and an unknown number are still missing. As…
