Operation Christmas Child:

Accessing the Unreached

🟩 What’s Different About This Operation Christmas Child Drive?

This summer, we’re launching a special Operation Christmas Child initiative—in addition to our regular fall shoebox drive.

Accessing the Unreached focuses on sending shoeboxes to children in parts of the world with little to no access to the Gospel.
Instead of packing boxes individually at home like we do in the fall…

➡️ We’ll collect one type of item each month from May through September
➡️ Then in October, we’ll pack the boxes together as a church family.

Each box will be hand-delivered by a local church in a spiritually unreached area—and every child will be invited to hear the Gospel and join a discipleship journey through The Greatest Journey program.

Our traditional OCC is still coming this fall—but right now, we’re uniting for something special.
Join us in reaching the unreached—one item, one box, one child at a time.

Join Us Each Month! Help Fill the Boxes

Stories from Hard-to-Reach Areas 

God is using Operation Christmas Child shoebox gifts to transform difficult areas of the globe with the Gospel. Read how below and feel free to share these stories with others. 

GOD’S LOVE CHANGES HEARTS 

Khalid’s* father is an alcoholic who used to beat him and withhold food from him. His mother didn’t speak up about the abuse because his father hurt her as well. As a result, Khalid became very shy. He loved to sit alone in a dark room. Upset with his family, he said, “My house was a hell.” 

When a pastor and his wife came to their village with Operation Christmas Child shoebox gifts, Khalid did not want to go and receive one, but his mother insisted. Before giving out the boxes, the pastor told the children, “God loves you.” This was the first time Khalid heard that he was loved by anyone. He was surprised that children far away had packed a shoebox just for him to show him God’s love. 

“On that night, I was very happy. Even though my father doesn’t like me, God [does],” Khalid said. 

Khalid began participating in our follow-up discipleship program offered to many shoebox recipients. 

“In one of the classes, I gave my life to the Lord because He died for me,” Khalid said. 

His mother and sister immediately noticed a change in him. He was more joyful than they had ever seen him before. 

Khalid began learning Bible stories from the pastor, and today he teaches Sunday School. The pastor said, “He became my right hand—on behalf of me he even leads meetings.” 

Seeing the change in Khalid, his mother and sister have become believers and now attend church. 

Khalid said, “I am very thankful to Operation Christmas Child. I do not know who sent me that box, but that gift brought me thus far … Since Jesus gave His life to me, I want to introduce this loving God to all children in my village and other places. Every second of my life, I want to serve Him.” 

BREAD SELLERS MEET THE BREAD OF LIFE 

Two young boys named Arjun* and Vihaan* were at their daily task of selling milk and bread when Aparna*, an Operation Christmas Child ministry partner, asked them their names. As the three began a conversation, the boys smiled and Aparna invited them to her home. There she surprised the boys with shoebox gifts and told them about Jesus Christ. 

The boys were so happy to listen to her Bible stories that they asked if they could bring their friends to hear them too. When these boys and girls came, Aparna offered them shoebox gifts and the Gospel as well. Excited, the children kept coming back to learn more about Jesus. 

This was the beginning of a class of The Greatest Journey discipleship program. Thirty students from non-Christian backgrounds initially attended and some began going to church services, bringing their parents to worship with them as well. Neighbors of another religion began asking them not to attend The Greatest Journey, but many of these children now believe in Christ and worship Him secretly. 

SHOEBOX GIFTS REACH A FAMILY

In one hard-to-reach nation, two brothers, ages 10 and 12, each received their first gift ever in an Operation Christmas Child shoebox. Being from a non-Christian background, they were surprised that their first visit to a church would result in such a wonderful gift. They brought the shoeboxes home to their mother who also rejoiced. 

One day, the church member who distributed the shoebox gifts visited the boys’ home. The family was eager to thank this man for the treasures in the shoeboxes. “I love Christians and want to know more about Jesus Christ,” the mother said. She began attending church and accepted Jesus as Lord of her life. Although she was going through some personal struggles, she, in turn, shared the Gospel with her mother-in-law and sister-in-law. Now eight adults and two children in the family actively attend church. 

A LIFE TRANSFORMED 

Aaron* lives in a country where Christians are a threatened minority.

Although only 7 years old, he was known as a difficult boy at home and at church. Often hyper and misbehaving, Aaron made Sunday School a challenge for his teachers. Still, the church invited Aaron to their special outreach event for children. He was so disruptive during the meeting, though, that when the Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes came out he thought, I won’t receive a gift because of my behavior!

But Aaron did receive a shoebox gift lovingly packed by a boy far away. Opening it, he found cars, a shirt, and pens, but his favorite part was the note inside. On a white piece of paper was the sender’s handprint and a note: “Every day you can put your hand on this paper and we can pray for each other.” 

Aaron began doing this daily. He also started collecting money in a box so he could have something to give to others. He simply thought more about other people. This shocked his mother. 

After Aaron received his shoebox gift, he also enrolled in The Greatest Journey discipleship class. During that course, he accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior! Today God continues to transform Aaron for His glory as the boy learns more about following Christ and sharing Him with others. 

*Names changed to protect identity

Source: Stories from Hard-to-Reach Areas

Frequently Asked Questions

  • Operation Christmas Child is a project of Samaritan’s Purse, an international relief organization. Our mission is to provide local partners around the world with shoeboxes filled with small toys, hygiene items, and school supplies as a means of reaching out to children in their own communities with the Good News of Jesus Christ. We ship these simple gifts outside the United States to children affected by war, poverty, natural disaster, famine, and disease.

  • Local ministry partners distribute your gifts to children in their communities. After receiving shoebox gifts, many boys and girls are invited to enroll in The Greatest Journey, our 12-lesson discipleship program. Through the program, ministry partners are able to establish long-term, caring relationships with children and families, sharing the love of Jesus Christ. Learn more about how God is using Operation Christmas Child in the work of evangelism, discipleship, and the multiplication of believers.

  • Operation Christmas Child is a global program facilitated through hundreds of thousands of trained volunteers. Local believers in more than 170 countries deliver Operation Christmas Child shoebox gifts, present the Gospel, and facilitate our follow-up discipleship program, The Greatest Journey.

    With this approach, local Christians who know the culture and language best are given effective resources with a solid biblical foundation to share the Gospel in their communities. We equip ministry partners—local pastors or church leaders—to be our volunteer representatives by providing thorough, detailed training for them to be able to facilitate a shoebox outreach event and present the Gospel.

    Trained National Leadership Team members, ministry partners, and The Greatest Journey teachers are volunteer roles filled exclusively by these national Christians. To learn more about these roles, visit our Volunteer Network page.

  • While our traditional Operation Christmas Child collection in the fall sends boxes all over the world, Accessing the Unreached is a focused effort to reach children in some of the world's most spiritually unreached areas. Every box packed through this initiative will be partnered with a local church in a hard-to-reach region, where the Gospel is personally shared at outreach events. It's a more targeted mission to bring hope to places that have little or no access to the message of Jesus.