2018 total includes boxes packed online through PackaBox.ca option available year-round

January 25, 2019 – Samaritan’s Purse has more than 517,000 new opportunities to tell children about the love, compassion, and salvation offered by Jesus Christ, thanks to the generosity of Canadians.

Supporters across Canada lovingly packed 517,437 Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes with toys, hygiene items, school supplies, and many other items during the 2018 campaign that recently ended.

Distribution of the shoeboxes in the developing world is underway. During the next few weeks, children in Central America, Haiti, west Africa, and Ukraine will be receiving shoeboxes packed by caring Canadians.

As that happens, Samaritan’s Purse will proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ in three ways:

  1. When it is culturally appropriate, we will present the Gospel to all children at shoebox distribution events. Many parents or guardians attend these events and also hear the Gospel.
  1. We will offer children The Greatest Gift, a colorful storybook that shares the message of salvation. The booklet (available in more than 80 languages) shares 11 Scripture stories and invites children to follow Christ. Shoebox recipients can take The Greatest Gift home to share with family and friends.
  2. When possible, we will invite each child who received a shoebox to participate in The Greatest Journey, our 12-lesson evangelism and discipleship program. After finishing The Greatest Journey, children attend a graduation celebration where we give them a certificate and a New Testament in their language. It is often the first copy of God’s Word the child or their family have ever owned.

We praise God that during the last nine years, He has used The Greatest Journey to bring almost nine million children to faith in His Son. In many cases, these children bring their parents to church, where they hear and respond to the Good News themselves.

The 517,437 Operation Christmas Child boxes donated by Canadians in 2018—including 11,073 packed online at PackaBox.ca—were part of a worldwide total of 10,623,776 collected in Canada, United States, United Kingdom, Spain, Finland, Japan, Germany, New Zealand, and Australia.

“Each shoebox that someone fills is an opportunity to show hurting children that they are loved by God and that He wants them to trust in His Son, so they can spend eternity with Him in Heaven,” said Randy Crosson, director of Operation Christmas Child Canada. “We are extremely thankful to Canadians, many of whom are unemployed or facing significant economic uncertainty, for their generosity in continuing to support this vital ministry year after year.”

 

A group of visiting Canadians join Costa Rica graduates of Samaritan’s Purse’s The Greatest Journey evangelism and discipleship program for a class photo.

Children in Costa Rica prepare to open their Canadian-packed Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes. For some children, these boxes are the first gift they’ve ever received.

Information provided by Samaritan's Purse Canada.