Ivanna Ramos was looking for a miracle. Ivanna, 12, lives with her single mother and three siblings down a dusty dirt road on the island of Roatán, Honduras. Her father left the family years ago, after lots of “arguments and fighting,” she said. “We always had problems for no reason.” The conflicts and her dad’s…
Operation Christmas Child
‘The Lord Loves Even His Enemies’
In a small town on the plains of Central Asia, most people are hostile to the small group of Christians living among them. Though these courageous believers are continually harassed, they faithfully persevere. Two Christian women named Aigul* and Dinara* were meeting regularly to pray for their town. Persecution flared up when Aigul’s mother died.…
Operation Christmas Child
Children in the Pacific Take The Greatest Journey of Their Lives
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
Tennessee Teen Packs with a Purpose
Tucked in along the Tennessee River between Nashville and Memphis sits the quaint town of Clifton, Tennessee. This town of just over 2,000 people is home for Jane Marie Franks—a 16-year-old high school junior with big goals. In the last two years, she’s rallied her community to pack over 1,000 Operation Christmas Child shoebox gifts…
Operation Christmas Child
Friendly Competition in Oklahoma Multiplies the Impact of Operation Christmas Child Around the World
Oklahoma youngsters Ava and Sam hold a friendly competition each year to see who can pack the most Operation Christmas Child gift-filled shoeboxes. But, win or lose, their real goal is the same—to see kids all over the world come to know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Ava and Sam love to pack…
Operation Christmas Child
‘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,…
Operation Christmas Child
A Teenager Prays for Revival in the Country of Georgia
Almost a dozen children and teens raced down a muddy, rutted alley to attend an early evening Christian worship service. They chatted and laughed as they came, some kicking around a soccer ball before they climbed a crumbling concrete-and-metal outside staircase to the second floor of the ministry center. It’s an uncommon scene in this…
Operation Christmas Child
Making Disciples in the Philippines
The boys and girls knew to quickly pick up their chairs and scoot to the side, clearing the narrow alleyway anytime a bicycle or motorbike needed to squeeze through. These interruptions to the discipleship class happened often enough that they had become normal, and the children and their teachers carried on with worship and Bible…
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
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…
