Newsletter September 2025
Operation Christmas Child Brings Hope to Fire-Ravaged Community
Notebooks and pencils were some of the items that immediately caught Fernanda’s attention when she peered inside of her shoebox gift. She’d be going back to school in a few months and had no supplies to take with her—everything she owned had burned during a fire a few weeks earlier. The inferno had attacked the…
A Sign of God’s Love
The Gospel message wasn’t clear to Zahira until it was presented to her in her own language—a dialect of sign language the Cuban girl uses in the Dominican Republic. At age 14 she was invited to an Operation Christmas Child outreach event led by a local church that has a ministry to the Deaf community.…
Shoeboxes Launch Outreach to Children in Western Mexico
Jesús was in trouble and he was afraid. He tried to hide from the police, knowing prison—and separation from his wife and children—awaited him. When the police caught Jesús, he was sentenced to seven years in jail in Mazatlan, Mexico. “My life was sad. I felt defeated,” he said. In prison, Jesús met Pastor Carlos,…
Reminded of God’s Faithfulness after Helene
Letis Avila lifted her hands to the Lord in prayer as Hurricane Helene bore down on her western North Carolina home last September. Though the storm took a lot from the Salvadoran mother of two, Letis is still praising God today. Soon after the sky cleared and waters receded, two Samaritan’s Purse staff members arrived…
From One Child to Another
Operation Christmas Child is a project for all ages! You can get the boys and girls in your family and at your church involved in so many ways… 1. Collect Items & Write Shoebox Notes Helping a child select items for a shoebox gift can teach money management, as well as a greater awareness of…
Young People Play Vital Role in Suriname’s Shoebox Outreach
Suriname bills itself as the greenest country in the world, boasting forests cover 93 percent of its land. Wherever you turn, from the coastal capital to the dense inland jungle, it’s true that the nation seems to burst forth with innumerable flowers, bushes, vines, and trees. Such vibrancy seems to characterize the Operation Christmas Child…
Celebrating 50 Million Children Discipled
“Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God” (Mark 10:14). Children are precious to God. The Bible tells us that “children are a gift of the LORD” (Psalm 127:3) and that we are responsible to train them up “in the way [they] should…
200 Millionth Shoebox Gift Celebrated in Charlotte
Samaritan’s Purse President Franklin Graham encouraged volunteers and staff at the Charlotte Processing Center in North Carolina during a community celebration event on Dec. 3. He expressed thanks to volunteers in Charlotte as well as the thousands of volunteers working in seven other processing center locations across the country to prepare shoebox gifts for international…
Q & A: Gospel Opportunities in Paradise
Meet Ravina Kumar, national discipleship coordinator for Operation Christmas Child in Fiji. She is one of 6,100 people globally who volunteer on National Leadership Teams to guide our efforts in evangelism, discipleship, and multiplication within their respective countries. Read on to learn more about how the ministry is advancing the Gospel in the Pacific through…