Deborah Warner serves as chaplain—as well as school nurse and music teacher for third and fourth graders—at Florida Christian School (FCS) in Miami. In addition to serving as the Operation Christmas Child project leader at her school, she also volunteers year-round as a prayer mobilization coordinator. As the 1,100 students of FCS packed 1,331 shoeboxes…
Shoebox Distribution Photos
Désiré and the Yo-yo
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…
Newsletter January
Mission and History
SAMARITAN’S PURSE CELEBRATES 10.6 MILLION SHOEBOX GIFTS COLLECTED FOR CHILDREN IN NEED
A Boy Called Marvellous
Marvellous ran for his life when gunfire erupted. He and his family were trying to flee their homeland in Central Africa where Christians were being persecuted for their faith. As they boarded a crowded bus together, the family heard the gunfire. Running in the opposite direction than his family, the then 6-year-old—and youngest of four…
Challenges Don’t Hinder Volunteer from Following God’s Call
As a year-round volunteer, Rebecca Parker-Moore leads the efforts of Operation Christmas Child’s area team in Huntington, West Virginia. “An area coordinator overseas all the operations of collecting shoeboxes, shepherding a team, and just being the face of Operation Christmas Child in a community,” Rebecca said. At age 16, Rebecca started packing shoebox gifts simply…
Sailors Brave Difficult Seas to Deliver Shoebox Gifts in the Pacific
A team of seven recently set sail on a 57-foot boat named Cloud Nine with cartons of Operation Christmas Child shoebox gifts on board. Their destination? An isolated part of Kwajalein Atoll. Home to some 11,000 people scattered across 100 small islands, Kwajalein Atoll is a part of the Marshall Islands, a nation located in…









