Drive down River Styx Road just outside Wadsworth, Ohio, and you’ll come across the “Styx and Stones Farm” sign. Pull in the driveway on any given Saturday morning in the fall, and it will be tough to find a spot to park. On one edge of the driveway sits a barn that’s at least 175…
Operation Christmas Child
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,…
Operation Christmas Child
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…
Operation Christmas Child
Delivering Grace
“We want to help make disciples. We want kids to know that they are loved by the creator of the universe. We want kids to know that Jesus died for their sins and they did nothing to deserve it. It’s unconditional.” Kimberly Hahn, director of operations at Orange Lutheran High School in California, overflows when…
Operation Christmas Child
God Is Using a Small Texas Church to Bless Many Thousands of Children
Update (Nov. 4, 2021): Since this article was originally published, Grace Baptist Church of Wild Peach, Texas, has continued to exceed its shoebox-packing goals. In 2020, despite the global outbreak of COVID-19, the church packed 12,617 shoeboxes—117 over their goal. They also saw God’s provision regarding their $9 donation per shoebox gift that year. “We…
Operation Christmas Child
Quality Matters
Quality items in Operation Christmas Child shoebox gifts can be the gifts that keep on giving, as children grow up with lasting treasures that sometimes mean even more to them over time. Here are some examples of quality items and reasons they’re important to include: Quality items can become life-long keepsakes. Some shoebox items are…
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
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…
Operation Christmas Child
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…
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…
