BOONE, N.C., Feb. 16, 2016 — Because of the generosity of donors across the United States, the Operation Christmas Child project of Samaritan’s Purse collected more than 8.7 million shoebox gifts—filled with fun toys, school supplies and hygiene items—for children in need around the world. Combined with shoebox gifts collected from partnering countries in 2015, the ministry is now sending more than 11.2 million shoebox gifts to children in more than 100 countries.

“Most of the boys and girls who receive shoebox gifts have never received any kind of present before,” said Franklin Graham, president of Samaritan’s Purse. “That child will never forget the gift or the message it conveyed about the love of Jesus Christ.”

Many children who receive shoebox gifts will also enroll in Operation Christmas Child’s 12-lesson discipleship program, The Greatest Journey. This program teaches children about God’s amazing love and guides them through what it means to faithfully follow Jesus Christ. Since 2010, more than 7.4 million children have participated in the program.

Although local drop-off locations for gifts are closed until November 2016, shoeboxes can still be packed and sent year-round to Samaritan’s Purse headquarters in Boone, North Carolina (801 Bamboo Road, Boone, NC 28607). Anyone can conveniently pack a personalized Operation Christmas Child shoebox gift at samaritanspurse.org/occ.

Operation Christmas Child is a project of Samaritan’s Purse, an international Christian relief and evangelism organization headed by Franklin Graham. Since 1993, Operation Christmas Child has collected more than 135 million gift-filled shoeboxes for children in more than 150 countries and territories. In 2016, Operation Christmas Child hopes to reach another 12 million children. To learn about year-round volunteer opportunities or to serve with Operation Christmas Child, visit samaritanspurse.org/occ.

A Christ-centered financial plan helps you wisely steward what the Lord has entrusted to you. Biblical generosity produces “the fruit that increases to your credit” (Philippians 4:17 ESV), so you can effectively accomplish what God leads you to do on earth while laying up treasures in heaven.

Planned giving enhances current and future income, results in tax in savings, and leaves a godly legacy for the people and ministries you love. The resources provided here will help you.

Our caring team also stands ready to assist. Through prayer, wise counsel, and effective planning, you can help change lives all around the world in Jesus’ Name.

In both Europe and the Middle East, Samaritan’s Purse is ministering to people who are fleeing terror.

Jesus’ family once left their home to escape violence. Today millions are fleeing war and terror in the Middle East. Some go to Europe, while others stay closer to home. Whichever they choose, Samaritan’s Purse is there providing physical and spiritual relief.

In Northern Iraq, one father who fled ISIS with just the shirt on his back said, “We thought we would die. We always prayed to God to save us.” Without work, he took a carpentry class at a community center run by Samaritan’s Purse. Now with the certificate he earned, he hopes to better provide for his family. “We really appreciate your support,” he said.

“Thank you!” said one young Iraqi woman who fled for her life along with her 15 siblings. “You care about us as people. We feel that we are not alone but that you are with us.”

Through the work of Samaritan’s Purse in Europe and Northern Iraq, many are finding Christ.

One young man recently became a Christian through the witness of our staff. He lost his brother to terrorist violence and his father was kidnapped but later ransomed back. He nows serves on our ministry team and said, “I believe in the King of kings.”

MINISTERING IN THE CENTER OF CRISIS

LATEST UPDATES FROMNORTHERN IRAQ

After receiving a shoebox gift, children have the opportunity to enroll in The Greatest Journey, our dynamic, 12-lesson Bible study course guiding them through what it means to faithfully follow Jesus Christ.

Disciple children for only $6 each month

Matthew 28:18-20 (NKJV)

Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Every shoebox gift delivered by Operation Christmas Child is a tangible expression of God’s amazing love. But a shoebox is just the beginning. It also presents an opportunity in more than 100 countries for our church partners to invite children into a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ through The Greatest Journey.

Since 2009, millions of children around the world have learned what it means to faithfully follow Jesus Christ through The Greatest Journey. As a result, lives are being changed for eternity and new churches are springing up in communities across the globe.

We praise the Lord for making The Greatest Journey one of the largest discipleship programs in the world today. But there are many more boys and girls we still urgently need to reach with the truth of God’s Word.

Will you help us “go and make disciples of all nations” as Christ commanded? Sign up for a monthly gift of $6, and each year you will give 12 children study materials, a New Testament, and the opportunity to learn what it means to devote their lives to sharing the Good News of eternal grace through Jesus Christ.

You can be a part of discipling children around the world

Disciple children for only $6 each month

Did you know appreciated stocks, mutual funds, and bonds in a taxable investment portfolio can be transferred as gifts to support Kingdom work? Giving stocks (that you have held for more than one year) directly to a ministry provides a significant opportunity to avoid capital gains tax, receive a deduction at the full-market value of the securities, and simplify your giving. In fact, giving appreciated stock can be more beneficial than giving cash! Download our transfer instructions below to make this simple but tax-wise gift.

If you have questions about giving stocks or mutual funds, or would prefer to arrange your gift over the phone, please contact Carrie Griffin at cgriffin@samaritan.org or 828-278-1226.

Did you know that Samaritan’s Purse accepts gifts of personal property? These gifts may include property such as vehicles, gold and diamond jewelry, recent-model smartphones, game systems, boats, coin collections and more.

Samaritan’s Purse has partnered with the iDonate Foundation to make it easy for you to give non-cash items. Once you make your gift, iDonate will sell the item and give the proceeds to Samaritan’s Purse. Your superfluous property can become an investment in eternity by helping Samaritan’s Purse respond quickly to emergencies.

If you have questions about non-cash giving, or would prefer to arrange your gift over the phone, please contact Carrie Griffin at cgriffin@samaritan.org or 828-278-1226.

WHAT DO WE ACCEPT

Properties that can be given to Samaritan’s Purse include personal residences, vacation homes, commercial property or land. Many people like to give gifts of real estate because the inherent value of the property far exceeds that of any other single asset. It is very popular because even individuals with modest estates typically own real estate.

If you are interested in donating your home or farmland but would like to remain living there, a Retained Life Estate may be an option for you. This giving tool provides a way for you to donate a home or farmland to charity when you are still living without having to vacate the property or give up any benefits while continuing to maintain the asset during your lifetime.

If you would like to discuss a real estate gift, please contact Carrie Griffin at cgriffin@samaritan.org or 828-278-1226.

Charitable Gift AnnuitiesA Charitable Gift Annuity is a simple, secure arrangement that benefits Samaritan’s Purse, provides an income to you and/or a loved one, and offers substantial tax benefits. Learn More →

Stock and Mutual Fund GivingDid you know appreciated stocks, mutual funds, and bonds in a taxable investment portfolio can be transferred directly to Samaritan’s Purse as taxwise gifts to support Kingdom work? Learn More →

IRA and Retirement Account GivingDesignating a ministry as the recipient of your Required Minimum Distribution from your retirement account offers a number of tax advantages. Learn More →

Personal PropertyDid you know that Samaritan’s Purse accepts gifts of personal property? These types of gifts may include items such as jewelry, recent-model smartphones, game systems, cars, boats, coin collections and more. Learn More →

Real Estate GiftsProperties that can be given to Samaritan’s Purse include personal residences, vacation homes, commercial property or land. Learn More →

Beneficiary DesignationsOne of the simplest ways to leave a gift in your estate to Samaritan’s Purse—without re-writing your will—is by naming our ministry a beneficiary of your IRA/retirement account or life-insurance policy. Learn More →

Charitable TrustsA charitable trust allows you to bless a ministry you care about while still providing an income for you or your heirs. With a charitable lead trust, money is paid first to the ministry of your choice for a specified amount of time. Then, at the end of the trust period, the balance goes to a designated beneficiary. A charitable remainder trust reverses that order, paying your heirs first.

Donor Advised FundsOne of the simplest ways to give real estate, stocks, mutual funds or commodities is through a Donor Advised Fund. This is an account you create with a local community foundation of your choice (or we can recommend) for the purpose of setting aside money or assets, receiving immediate tax benefits, and allowing you the flexibility to distribute gifts over time. It’s like having your own charitable giving account.

BOONE, N.C., March 12, 2016 —Staff and relief supplies from the international Christian relief organization Samaritan’s Purse arrived today in West Monroe and Bossier City, Louisiana, to provide much-needed aid to victims of the recent flooding. Many homes there are facing severe flood damage with river levels rising to a height not seen in decades.

The North Carolina-based aid group has set up one of its disaster relief units at White’s Ferry Road Church, located at 3201 N. 7th Street, West Monroe, Louisiana. This will serve as a base of operations for its flood relief efforts. The Samaritan’s Purse disaster relief units are tractor-trailers stocked with heavy-duty tarps, generators and other tools that will be used during cleanup efforts. Samaritan’s Purse staff and volunteer teams will clean mud out of flooded houses and remove waterlogged belongings. They will also tear out damaged drywall, insulation and flooring; and spray chemicals designed to stop mold growth.

“We hope that we are able to help the people in Louisiana salvage as many of their belongings as possible and start the process of getting them back into their homes,” said Franklin Graham, president of Samaritan’s Purse. “Please join me in praying for those who have lost so much because of this terrible flooding.”

A team of chaplains from the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association’s Rapid Response Team has also been deployed to the disaster area. They will be working alongside Samaritan’s Purse to provide emotional and spiritual encouragement to flood victims.

For more information about how you can help or to volunteer with Samaritan’s Purse, go to www.spvolunteernetwork.org. Donations to help with the flood relief efforts can be made at www.samaritanspurse.org.

Samaritan’s Purse has helped more than 29,000 families in 35 U.S. states following floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, fires and ice storms. Recently the organization’s U.S. disaster team responded to the massive flooding in Texas, and also provided aid to victims of the deadly tornadoes in Oklahoma and ice storms in Tennessee.

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BOONE, N.C., March 21, 2016 —Samaritan’s Purse, an international Christian relief organization, is deploying a tractor-trailer stocked with relief supplies to East Texas—where towns have been submerged by record-breaking flooding. Initial reports estimate that 4,400 homes have received flood damage with more than 800 homes severely damaged or completely destroyed.

The N.C.-based organization will enlist volunteers from across the country to help families clean out their flood-damaged homes and will focus their efforts in Deweyville and Orange, Texas. Teams will tear out damaged drywall, remove flooring, clear debris and spray chemicals designed to stop mold growth.

“This flood has devastated entire communities in Texas,” said Franklin Graham, president of Samaritan’s Purse. “They need our help, and we want to be there for them. We want to show them there is hope beyond this storm.”

The disaster relief unit is a tractor-trailer stocked with heavy-duty tarps, generators and other tools that will aid in the cleanup efforts. This unit will serve as the command center and will be based at Mauriceville Assembly of God Church in Orange, Texas.

A team of chaplains from the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association’s Rapid Response Team has also been deployed to the disaster area. They will be working alongside Samaritan’s Purse to provide emotional and spiritual encouragement to flood victims.

For more information about how you can help or to volunteer with Samaritan’s Purse, go to www.spvolunteernetwork.org. Donations to help with the flood relief efforts can be made at www.samaritanspurse.org.

Samaritan’s Purse has helped more than 29,000 families in 35 U.S. states following floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, fires and ice storms. Currently the organization’s U.S. disaster teams are responding to the massive flooding in Louisiana, and recently provided aid to victims of the deadly tornadoes in Mississippi and wildfires in California.

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When Samaritan’s Purse responds to natural disasters, we partner with churches in the affected community, working together to share the love of Jesus Christ with people facing grief and uncertainty.

The work of Samaritan's Purse U.S. Disaster Relief could not happen without our incredible volunteers and partnering churches. There are two ways churches can be a Lighthouse with Samaritan’s Purse:

Deployment Host Facility Requirements:A certain degree of planning before these situations arise can make a big difference. How would your church respond to the following questions, given that a disaster deployment may require some disruption of normal routines and schedules?

If you your congregation can offer a group of willing volunteers, you can organize a Lighthouse Volunteer Team. Below are some ways to prepare your congregation for deployment:

In both Europe and the Middle East, Samaritan’s Purse is ministering to people who are fleeing terror.

A 7.8-magnitude quake has rocked the northern part of Ecuador's coast, killing hundreds and injuring thousands more. With more than 400 confirmed dead, it is the deadliest earthquake to strike the country since 1987. The death toll has been climbing steadily, and the desperate search for survivors continues.

"The earthquake in Ecuador has caused incredible death, injury, destruction, and loss. We're responding as quickly as possible to help with emergency needs such as water, shelter, and medical care. We help in the Name of Jesus Christ and want to show people His love. Please keep them in your prayers," said Samaritan's Purse President Franklin Graham.

In a series of three upcoming flights starting on Wednesday, Samaritan's Purse is sending a Tier-2 emergency field hospital along with dozens of medical staff to treat the suffering in Ecuador. Samaritan's Purse will use a newly refurbished DC8 cargo plane as transportation.

The emergency field hospital is a mobile unit that will give Samaritan’s Purse a physical location to treat and help patients in need. It will have an emergency room with the capacity to see more than 100 people a day, an operating theatre with the ability to perform 7-10 surgeries daily, 20 in-patient beds, and an outpatient clinic with on-site pharmacy. Approximately 40 medical personnel will staff the field hospital each day to handle the overwhelming need.

In addition, Samaritan’s Purse is working to bring clean water to 50,000 people and meet the shelter needs for 5,000 households. We have deployed a seven-person disaster assistance response team to join trained personnel already on location.

We are and will be working through church partners as this response develops.

Please remember to pray for the people of Ecuador as they face this disaster. Ask for healing for the hurting, comfort for those who have lost loved ones, and for salvation for those who do not know the Lord Jesus Christ.

BRINGING HOPE AFTER THE DISASTER

LATEST UPDATES FROMOUR EARTHQUAKE RESPONSE

BOONE, N.C., April 18, 2016 —When a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck Ecuador on Saturday, Samaritan’s Purse immediately began mobilizing supplies and experienced relief workers to aid in the aftermath. Now the organization has a team of seven on the ground working through local church partners, and its emergency field hospital and medical staff will be arriving soon.

“The earthquake in Ecuador has caused incredible death, injury, destruction and loss,” said Franklin Graham, president of Samaritan’s Purse. . “We are responding in the Name of Jesus Christ to help with emergency needs such as water, shelter, and medical care. Please keep the people of Ecuador in your prayers.”

The emergency field hospital is a mobile unit that will give Samaritan’s Purse a physical location to treat and help patients in need. It will have an emergency room with the capacity to see more than 100 people a day, an operating theatre with the ability to perform 7-10 surgeries daily, 20 in-patient beds, and an outpatient clinic with an adjunct lab, ultrasound imaging capabilities, on-site pharmacy and pharmacist. Approximately 40 medical personnel will staff the field hospital each day.

In addition to the overwhelming medical need, Samaritan’s Purse is also working to bring clean water to 50,000 people and meet the shelter needs for 5,000 households.

Samaritan’s Purse responds to the physical and spiritual needs of individuals in crisis situation. Led by Franklin Graham, Samaritan’s Purse works in more than 100 countries to provide aid to victims of war, disease, disaster, poverty, famine and persecution. For more information, visit www.samaritanspurse.org.

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Imagine the excitement of 250 children in an orphanage who had never before received a gift, each holding shoeboxes from Operation Christmas Child.

We were so curious. What was inside these boxes? Finally, there was a countdown and we opened the lid and looked inside!

Kids began screaming left and right, not because they were sad but because of their joy to receive a gift for the very first time.

As I opened my shoebox I saw school supplies, hygiene items such as toothpaste and a toothbrush, socks, underwear, and a watercolor paint set.

Some of these items were foreign to me. I looked at the paintbrush—I didn’t know what it was. I looked at the paint—it was colorful but I didn’t know what it was either. I looked at Smarties and wondered what they were. I thought they were medicine.

Everything was new! Nearly all of my senses were being used. I was feeling, touching, smelling to figure out what it was.

One of my favorite items was discovered using my other sense—my sense of taste. I had no idea what it was when I ate this item with the plastic still on it. It was sweet. It was very pepperminty. It tasted like something I didn’t expect. That was my first time eating a candy cane.

A hair comb was the item that I kept the longest. This wasn’t a typical comb. When you opened it on one side there was a pick and by opening the other side with a twist, a brush would come out. I took this comb with me everywhere I went for the next three years.

Each and every item in that shoebox brought me joy at a time when I had lost all hope. I didn’t see how Jesus Christ was working at that time, but an eternal seed was planted in my heart in that moment. A year later, I realized the many things God did in my life to bring me where I was.

My Mom passed away with AIDS when I was a very little boy. During the Rwandan genocide my grandmother and uncle were killed right in front of me. People argued about whether or not to kill my entire family. A bullet missed my head by an inch. We walked for miles and miles, sleeping in the bushes, the dirt, and abandoned buildings. In the end I was put in an orphanage.

That box gave me joy when there was nothing left. Something as small as a candy cane put a smile on my face even when I didn’t know what it was. God used that moment to give me a glimpse of greater joy that is in Him.

In the years that followed, I wrestled a lot with “why?” Why am I alive? Why did God spare my life through the war? Why did God take away the people I loved?

Through the mentorship of people around me and through Jeremiah 29:11, I began to see that God had a plan for my life. I could look back and see the miracles since the day I was born. I could not ignore His presence in my life. One of those moments was receiving a shoebox right after the genocide.

A simple candy cane might seem small and insignificant but at that moment as a 7-year-old, I needed to be reminded that someone loved me, someone still cared. It was such a joyful moment I will never forget.

#shoeboxstories is a 13-week series by shoebox recipients telling about the eternal impact of a simple gift. Check back each Thursday for the next installment.

Operation Christmas Child delivers great joy to millions of children around the world through shoeboxes lovingly and prayerfully packed with gifts that will bring delight to a child. In the hands of local churches, every gift-filled shoebox is a powerful tool for evangelism and discipleship—transforming the lives of children and their families around the world through the Good News of Jesus Christ! After receiving shoebox gifts, boys and girls are invited to enroll in The Greatest Journey, our 12-lesson discipleship program where children learn what it means to faithfully follow Christ and share their faith with others.

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The Greatest Journey

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Join this five-day campaign to provide The Greatest Journey discipleship training to 25,000 more shoebox recipients.

Share this campaign to help us reach our goal!

Through The Greatest Journey, children in more than 100 countries are learning to follow Jesus Christ. This exciting Samaritan's Purse project gives children a strong faith foundation and teaches them to share about the Lord with family and friends!

Add me to the 25K Disciple Maker List below.

Join the list of people who are supporting this initiative and are committed to praying that 25,000 more children worldwide will be discipled as a result of this campaign.

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12 Questions to Take You on a Journey Through Scripture

Donate now to enable at least 25,000 more kids to take The Greatest Journey discipleship classes after they receive shoeboxes. Help us reach our goal!

Samaritan’s Purse brings physical relief and the Gospel to hurting people around the world.

As a Christian charity, Samaritan’s Purse shares the eternal hope and peace found only in Jesus with men, women, and children who are victims of war, poverty, disaster, disease, and famine. We work in more than 100 countries, addressing critical needs such as food, clean water, shelter, and medicine. We also help hurting people in the United States, including wounded U.S. soldiers and their spouses and homeowners devastated by natural disasters.

When disasters strike around the world, Samaritan’s Purse responds immediately, quickly mobilizing staff and experienced relief workers to partner with local churches to provide critically needed disaster relief to people in need. No matter where we go to help the least of these, we always go in the Name of Jesus Christ.

We have responded to devastating earthquakes in Haiti, Ecuador, and Nepal; typhoons in the Philippines; and to large-scale refugee crises in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. We’re also ministering to the physical and spiritual needs of persecuted Christians, children in poverty, women who are victims of domestic violence, and human trafficking victims.

You can donate here and help us take the hope of the Gospel to the desperate, oppressed, and impoverished.

Charity Navigator gives us a four-star rating—their highest.

Samaritan’s Purse is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt charity.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE WORK OFSAMARITAN'S PURSE

FINANCIAL ACCOUNTABILITY

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Have questions or suggestions? Email occinfo@samaritan.org

I received my shoebox gift in Romania at age 2, the youngest you can be to receive a box. So, I don’t remember all the details of what happened. But my older sister would always tell me about the day we each received our shoeboxes and how I came to have my toy car.

I loved that toy car. I played with it all the time. I hadn’t had a toy like that before. At the time, our idea of a Christmas gift was the orange my father received as a holiday present at his job.

I was born in Romania in the mid-1990s. The fall of communism there a few years before also brought about the fall of the country’s economy. My parents had good jobs, as an engineer and teacher, but the crashing economy made it hard for them to even make rent on our dilapidated apartment. Our dinner each day was soup, and we were extremely grateful when we were able to add meat to that once a week.

Basic survival was our greatest challenge. Amid such trying times, I received my Operation Christmas Child shoebox. The harshness of my life was contrasted with the hope and joy I found in this manifestation of God’s love. The shoebox I received really ended up being a seed for the Gospel in my life.

My parents had just begun attending the church where my sister and I received our shoebox gifts. The shoebox distribution was a community-wide event. My parents saw how the church was reaching out to its community, believers and non-believers alike, to show them the love of Christ in a tangible way through these shoeboxes. It made a lasting impression on their own walks of faith with the Lord.

A year later, we moved to the United States. I was raised in a Christian home and pretty much grew up in church. At age 10, I committed my life to the eternal God.

Somewhere along the way, my toy car got lost in the shuffle. But I still remember it and what it represents.

At first, I just loved the toy car because it was mine. Then, I became intrigued by how it worked. I never really thought about it before, but my interest in figuring out how things work, how things can be taken apart and put back together to work even better, probably started with that toy car.

Even as a child, I loved science and was always taking things apart to see how they were built. At first, it was toys. Then, I started taking apart broken computers and fixing them.

Now, I’m studying biomedical engineering at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee. Essentially, it’s about creating devices, such as prostheses and artificial organ implants, to help people.

I’ve realized that God can use whatever career field people pursue to share the love and hope that can be found in Him. Your life—and how God is guiding it and working through it—can be a testimony for Him.

That’s my goal—to make things to help people in Jesus’ Name.

The toy car I received as a shoebox gift is a clear example of how God can use the simplest of things to influence people’s lives. What the gift gave me as a young child was a sense of God’s love, a seed of hope in my life during a time when my family was going through really hard times.

Thank you so much for packing shoeboxes for boys and girls, especially in the age range of 2-4 years old, because the Lord can take your gift and plant a seed for the Gospel in their hearts, like He did in mine.

#shoeboxstories is an ongoing series in which shoebox recipients share about the eternal impact of a simple gift. Check back each Thursday through August 25 for new content.

READ MORE #SHOEBOXSTORIES

Operation Christmas Child delivers great joy to millions of children around the world through shoeboxes lovingly and prayerfully packed with gifts that will bring delight to a child. In the hands of local churches, every gift-filled shoebox is a powerful tool for evangelism and discipleship—transforming the lives of children and their families around the world through the Good News of Jesus Christ! After receiving shoebox gifts, boys and girls are invited to enroll in The Greatest Journey, our 12-lesson discipleship program where children learn what it means to faithfully follow Christ and share their faith with others.