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…
Operation Christmas Child
Treasures in the Trash
Koshe dumpsite in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, contains mountains of trash. Some families who live near it are left to scale its slopes daily in search of salvageable items to provide for their sons and daughters. What toys these precious ones have were once on the trash heap. Samaritan’s Purse recently delivered Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes…
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…
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…
Operation Christmas Child
A Young Girl Comes to Faith and Family Follows
When Athena was 8 years old, she received a gift-filled shoebox through Operation Christmas Child. Living in an impoverished area of the Philippines, the young girl had never received such a present. Athena began to learn about how much God loves her when she read The Greatest Gift, a Gospel story booklet Samaritan’s Purse developed…
50 Years of Ministry
Rebuilding Homes for 5,000 Families After Hurricane Mitch
Hurricane Mitch was the worst storm of the 20th century in the western hemisphere, killing over 11,000 people in Honduras and Nicaragua in 1998. The late-October storm destroyed or damaged more than 80,000 houses in Honduras. Samaritan’s Purse launched the largest construction project in our history and in the four years following the storm, we…
Operation Christmas Child
American Heritage Girls & Operation Christmas Child
American Heritage Girls and Operation Christmas Child Connect Your Troop to Operation Christmas Child 2025 #AHGOCCPRICELESS Shoebox Challenge! Collection Form Welcome to the 2025 #AHGOCCPRICELESS Shoebox Challenge! The Challenge theme coincides with the American Heritage Girls 2025-2026 program year theme of “PRICELESS.” Join Troops around the country united in one common focus—equipping the next generation with…
Operation Christmas Child
Year-Round Volunteering with Operation Christmas Child
Volunteer Year-Round Gospel Opportunities in 100+ Countries Share the Good News of Jesus Christ in more than 100 countries by volunteering with Operation Christmas Child. Samaritan's Purse collects, processes, and sends gift-filled shoeboxes generously packed by individuals like you, along with Gospel booklets in nearly 100 languages, to ministry partners around the world. Children + Families…
