Operation Christmas Child
Mission
“Let the children come to Me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God.” Mark 10:14, ESV
The mission of Operation Christmas Child is to demonstrate God’s love in a tangible way to children in need around the world. Through this project, Samaritan’s Purse partners with the local church worldwide to share the Good News of Jesus Christ and make disciples of the nations.
The Greatest Journey
Children who participate in the program learn how to follow Christ and share Him with others. As they do, entire families and communities are transformed by the power of the Gospel, and churches are started.
Upon completion of the course, they receive a graduation certificate and a New Testament in their own language.
Seeking to follow Jesus’ command to “make disciples of all the nations” (Matthew 28:19), we have trained over 1.9 million volunteers from these congregations to teach The Greatest Journey, our dynamic follow-up discipleship course for shoebox recipients. Since 2009, 40.5 million children have enrolled in this 12-lesson program to learn how to follow Christ and share Him with others. More than 20.2 million of these boys and girls have made a decision to accept Jesus as their Savior during the course. Many are now praying for and sharing their faith with family and friends. As a result of this ever-expanding witness, new churches are starting and communities are being transformed!