Overview

Operation Christmas Child is a project of Samaritan’s Purse, an international relief organisation. 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. After receiving shoebox gifts, many children are also invited back to participate in The Greatest Journey – an evangelism and discipleship program. We ship these simple gifts from Australia and New Zealand to children affected by war, poverty, natural disaster, famine, and disease. These gifts are given without condition and without regard to the race, creed, gender, religion, or ethnicity of the beneficiaries.

Yes! You can Follow Your Box and discover the destination of your shoebox. By making the $12.50 per shoebox donation online instead of placing it in your shoebox, you will receive your own tracking label delivered to your email address. Just print and attach your unique shipping label to your shoebox gift.

The program was started in the United Kingdom in 1990 by Dave and Jill Cooke. Three years after this beginning, the Wales-based shoebox gift project merged in a partnership with Samaritan’s Purse, allowing us to share 20 years of expertise in relief and aid work with the project, and expand the reach of the shoebox gifts to more than 28,000 children that year. Since 1993, Operation Christmas Child has delivered gift-filled shoeboxes to over 210 million children in more than 100 countries.

Shoebox gifts are a way to demonstrate God’s love in a tangible way to children in need around the world, and together with the local church worldwide, to share the Good News of Jesus Christ.

Our local ministry partners distribute your shoeboxes to children in their communities. After receiving shoebox gifts, many boys and girls are invited to enrol in The Greatest Journey, our 12-lesson discipleship program. Through the program, our local ministry partners are able to establish long-term, caring relationships with children and families by sharing the love of Jesus Christ.

The shoebox gifts are shipped out from our processing centres as soon as possible. Some delays in shipping occur from time to time as shipping to developing countries can present some unique challenges. We always do our best to get the shoeboxes to the children as close to Christmas as possible. Most of the gifts are sent via ship. Although the collection of Operation Christmas Child gifts is during the Christmas season, the delivery of some gifts is sometimes delayed due to international shipping. They may not clear customs in receiving countries until autumn. In addition, many countries that receive the gifts must transport the gifts to rural areas using very poor roads. Distributions typically occur from late December through April each year, extending the joy of Christmas to children that receive them!

Operation Christmas Child is unable to facilitate this; however, if you are contacted by your recipient child, you may be able to build a relationship with them. You can also give a scholarship to a child to participate in The Greatest Journey discipleship program. It takes $12.50 to provide a child the opportunity to participate and receive discipleship materials including a certificate and New Testament in their language. Donors can fund one child, adopt a local outreach, or train a group of church leaders and pastors for outreach.

Samaritan’s Purse – Operation Christmas Child seeks to demonstrate God’s love in a tangible way through each shoebox gift. One of our core values is to never be manipulative. We work in and through local volunteers in each country that understand their context and are respectful to the people they serve. Boys and girls do not have to do or say anything to receive their gifts. At the same time, we do seek to share the Gospel wherever we go, which can be challenging at times. In some regions, we are not permitted to distribute literature, but we are still grateful for the opportunity to bless the children with gift boxes carefully prepared by people who love children.

Children are often invited to enrol in The Greatest Journey Discipleship program, which is a 12-lesson program. Children need to have their parent’s permission to enrol in the discipleship program.

Packing Your Shoebox

Everything you need to learn how to pack a shoebox gift can be found here. That includes what kind of box to use, what items can be included, how to learn the destination of your shoebox gift, and much more!

You can use any shoebox with lid the approximate size of an A4 page. Operation Christmas Child also has red-and-green boxes that are also available to order now.

You can find a list of suggested items and items not to include here.

You can order labels by making your $12.50 donation online here and you will be emailed labels that can be printed at home. You can also learn the destination of your shoebox gift if you select a Follow Your Box label.

The $12.50 per gift is a suggested donation. This donation is critical for Operation Christmas Child to collect, process, and ship shoebox gifts to more than 100 countries. It also provides for ministry materials such as The Greatest Gift Gospel Booklet and The Ministry Partner Guide. We encourage those who are unable to include the $12.50 per box to consider asking a group in their church or a family member to sponsor this part of the shoebox gift.

Hundreds of drop-off locations are open across Australia between the 14th and 26th October 2024, and across New Zealand between the 21st to 26th of October 2024.

We understand and respect that you carefully choose the items you include in your shoebox gifts. Volunteers at our processing centres are trained to remove only items on the “do not include” list found here. When these items are removed, they are donated to local charities and still put to good use.

Countries vary from year to year. If you make your shipping donation online and select to Follow Your Box, you can discover the destination of your shoebox.

Our goal globally is to collect and distribute millions of shoebox gifts in over 100 countries this year. Because of the tremendous growth of Operation Christmas Child, the logistics involved in collecting, processing, and distributing millions of shoeboxes prevent us from designating specific boxes for certain countries or climates according to the contents. We can assure you, however, that whoever receives your box will need and appreciate your gift.

Can This Go In My Shoebox?

Yes. Playing cards can be included in your shoebox gifts. Games like UNO that are aimed at children are great shoebox gifts!

All of those items are allowed.

Yes. However, batteries must be in their original sealed packaging.

Yes, all of these may be included in your shoebox gifts. However, keep in mind that the children may not have a DVD player or CD player available.

No, all liquid items, including paint, toothpaste, gels, bubble makers, liquid glue bottles can’t be included in your shoebox gift. However, dry paint sets (such as watercolours) are OK to pack!

No, all liquid items, including glowsticks are not allowed. However, dry paint sets (such as watercolours) are OK to pack!

Crayons and play dough can now be included in your shoebox gifts.

Yes! The only tools that can’t be included are saws and pocketknives.

Yes! Scissors are OK to include in your shoebox gifts.

If the child can wear or use the items without looking like a soldier, they are OK to include in your shoebox gift. Pink or coloured camouflage is safe as are pencils, wallets, or socks.

Squirt guns can be included as long as they do not look like real guns. Brightly coloured squirt guns are great to pack in your shoebox gift.

Yes, wet wipes do not have enough liquid to spill out into the shoebox, so they are OK to include in your gift.

No, these would be considered inappropriate because of the liquid.

No type of lolly is allowed in shoebox gifts, due to increasing customs regulations.

Yes, non medicated lip gloss or lip balm can be packed in a shoebox.

Toothpaste is not allowed in shoebox gifts, due to increasing customs regulations.

No. Mirrors are glass and can shatter in transport.

Matches are not allowed in shoebox gifts due to shipping regulations.

YES! You can include items that have Christian phrases like, “Jesus loves you” on them. However, we do not include religious literature such as English Bibles and tracts in shoeboxes as it may be confusing for the child as they are not in their native language.

The reason The Greatest Journey is so effective is because it is written for children in their own language and delivered in a classroom setting by specially trained teachers. Please pray for the child who receives your shoebox to come to know Christ through The Greatest Journey. We encourage you to include a note of encouragement and, if you wish, a picture of your family.

Follow Your Box

When you order a label online, you can select to ‘Follow Your Box’ and you will be emailed a barcoded label that you stick on your gift-filled shoebox to track it’s progress from the time it leaves your home through to the final destination country. The barcode is scanned each step of the way, and you will receive an email so you can track your shoebox’s journey.

Click here. After you have given a $12.50 donation you have the option to “Follow You Box” for free by ticking the box that says “I would like to receive FREE Follow Your Box Emails to discover the destination of my shoebox gift.” Once you have completed your order an email will be sent to you. In the email there is a PDF attached with your label/s which you can print and stick onto your shoebox.

After completing your order here an email will be sent you with a PDF attached. If you are concerned you have not received your email be sure to check your spam folder or junk mail inbox for the email. You may need to add donations@samaritanspurse.org.au, to your safe senders list. If you did not receive your Follow Your Box label, email donorsupport@samaritanspurse.org.au

No, the label indicates that the $12.50 donation per shoebox, which provides for collecting, shipping, and delivery.

Each label has a unique barcode, so you only print one of each label to affix to your shoebox.

Tape the barcode label on the lid of the shoebox in the allocated space. Avoid placing the label in the centre of the shoebox lid because that is where the shoebox will be taped shut at a processing centre. Make sure the label edges are securely attached to lessen the likelihood of the label getting torn off or its barcode ripped during transit.

Discovering the Destination of Your Shoebox Gift

If you have ordered a label online and selected to “Follow Your Box” then you will be able to see the status of your shoeboxes at two stages: 1) after they have been processed and are awaiting overseas shipment and 2) after they have been shipped to a country destination. Most shoeboxes are processed in the weeks following October through mid-December every year and you will be emailed status updates.

After October, it can take a couple of months for your shoebox to be processed and shipped. If you have concerns about your shoebox, please email us at occlogistics@samaritanspurse.org.au.

If you have ordered a label online and selected to “Follow Your Box” then yes, Samaritan’s Purse will send you an email when your shoebox progresses from processing through to shipping.

If you have ordered a label online and selected to “Follow Your Box” then you should receive email updates from Samaritan’s Purse. You may need to add Samaritan’s Purse, donations@samaritanspurse.org.au, to your safe senders list. If your label is ripped or separated from the shoebox while it is being transported, it may prevent us from informing you where your gift was delivered into the hands of a child in need.

After October, it can take a couple of months for your shoebox to be processed and shipped. If you have concerns about your shoebox, please email us at occlogistics@samaritanspurse.org.au.

Labels are only emailed when you order your label online, not through any other Donation section of www.samaritanspurse.org.au (such as a fundraising page, another Operation Christmas Child item, or Adopt A Box in the Samaritan’s Purse gift catalogue).

Unfortunately, we are not able to provide pictures or information about the specific child who receives your shoebox.

Because of the logistics involved in collecting, processing, and distributing millions of shoebox gifts to over 100 countries each year, we are unable to pre-assign certain shoeboxes for specific countries.

Shoebox Drop-Off

We have drop-off locations around Australia and New Zealand during 23 October – 4 November 2023.

Find the location nearest to you here. Please note locations will only be listed during 23 October – 4 November 2023.

If you ordered your label online and selected to ‘Follow Your Box’ then yes, Samaritan’s Purse will send you an email when your shoebox progresses from processing through to shipping.

Shoebox gifts are only collected during National Collection, 23 October – 4 November 2023.

Pack a Shoebox Online

With just a few clicks, you can pack an Operation Christmas Child shoebox gift online to help share God’s love with a boy or girl in need around the world. We’ll pack the gift for you and send it on its way for a suggested donation of just $35.

Click here. Simply select a gender and age category and personalise your gift with your own letter.

No. As with all shoebox gifts, there is no way for us to designate the specific country to which your gift will be sent.

Shoeboxes that are built through Pack a Shoebox Online are assembled from September to December and are delivered throughout the year.

You can view the shoebox items here. Occasionally we have to switch out similar items based on demand and availability.

You can pack a shoebox online year-round, but keep in mind that shoeboxes ordered after 31 December will not count in the current year’s shoebox total.

Evangelism & Discipleship

The Greatest Gift is a Gospel booklet available in more than 75 languages, and is given out with shoebox gifts around the world. With the Apostle John as narrator, the booklet shares 11 Scripture stories and invites children to follow Christ.

The Greatest Journey is a discipleship experience offered by local churches to many of the children who receive shoebox gifts. The 12-lesson program introduces boys and girls to salvation through faith in Christ and encourages them to grow as faithful followers. This connects children to local churches who can, through discipling relationships, teach and nurture the children in faith.

The Greatest Journey is an investment not only in children, but also in the teachers and the local churches that can learn, grow, and continue to serve Christ with the momentum that is gained through the program. It takes $12.50 to provide a child the opportunity to participate in The Greatest Journey and receive discipleship materials, including a certificate and New Testament in their language. You can learn more and support The Greatest Journey here to further this work around the world.

Global Influence of Operation Christmas Child

Operation Christmas Child is a global program facilitated through hundreds of thousands of trained volunteers. Local believers in more than 100 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—a local pastor or church leader—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.

The mission of Operation Christmas Child is to provide local churches who are our ministry partners around the world with shoebox gifts as a way to reach children in their communities. For many children, this is the first gift of this kind they will ever receive. More important than the items inside the shoebox, the gifts are an opportunity to share God’s love—and the Good News of Jesus Christ—with children in need.

In each shoebox receiving country, we partner with a volunteer National Leadership Team that consists of year-round volunteers from various church denominations. Together, they strategise how to reach children in their country with the Gospel. It is our desire to give one shoebox to a child in their lifetime, and this is the model used in our training. Local churches distribute shoebox gifts to children in different communities each year. Because of this strategy, the economic impact on a community is minimal which allows us to reach millions of new children every year with the Good News of Jesus Christ and disciple many, with millions now sharing their faith with their friends, family, and beyond.

According to Henry Manthanamba, Operation Christmas Child prayer coordinator in Malawi, “If shoebox gifts impacted our local economy negatively, the government would never allow them. They see it as a blessing to the children of Malawi.”

In more than 100 receiving countries, shoebox gifts are used by local Christians as a strategy for evangelism, discipleship, and the multiplication of believers and churches in their communities. More important than the items inside the shoebox, the gifts are an opportunity to share God’s love—and the Good News of Jesus Christ—with children in need. Local Christians who know the culture and language best are given effective resources in their own language and a solid Biblical foundation so that they can communicate the Gospel within their own communities through shoebox outreach events and The Greatest Journey discipleship program.For example, in Fiji, a pastor hosted an Operation Christmas Child shoebox outreach event in a rural community that had no church. He then invited the children to attend The Greatest Journey follow-up discipleship program. As the students gathered for the discipleship lessons, their parents grew curious and began attending too. The village elder became a believer and offered his property as a place for the new church to meet. Today 80 people attend regularly, and five additional churches have been started in surrounding villages! This is one example of hundreds of churches planted annually as a result of Operation Christmas Child in regions where we work.

The evangelism and discipleship resources utilised by Operation Christmas Child were intentionally developed with input from local believers in 16 countries, from six continents, and are specifically focused on children.

In the seven countries where shoebox gifts are packed, Operation Christmas Child provides an opportunity for participants to be a part of fulfilling the Great Commission. Jesus said “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19). In this church-to-church ministry model, churches who pack shoebox gifts partner with local churches around the world as they share God’s love with children in need and provide follow-up discipleship through The Greatest Journey.

More than 75,000 pastors and church leaders share the Gospel every year at outreach events where shoebox gifts are delivered. The shoebox outreach events are planned and implemented by volunteers in the local church who know the culture and language best. Through our volunteer National Leadership Team, local believers are trained to present the Gospel in a child friendly way. We work with the volunteer National Leadership Team to develop an annual strategy for evangelism, discipleship, and multiplication of believers and churches in their communities.

Evangelism is a simple process of sharing the Good News that Jesus Christ loves and cares for you, that He is real and wants to know you.

Discipleship is the process of teaching biblical views on how God asks us to live.

Multiplication is helping the church grow and serve in their local community.

Shoebox gifts are given to children regardless of their gender, ethnicity, or faith. We seek to demonstrate God’s love in a tangible way through each shoebox gift. Children do not have to do or say anything to receive the gifts. We work in and through local Christians in each country who understand the context in their area. Simple gifts—packed with love in Jesus’ Name—deliver hope and joy to children all around the world, regardless of their faith or religious background.

Operation Christmas Child is not intended as a solution for meeting physical needs, but rather a strategy for the local church to meet spiritual needs of children in their communities. The unexpected gift delights and sparks hope in the life of a child as they hear of Jesus’ love for them. Shoebox gifts are given freely in Jesus’ Name.

Serving with Operation Christmas Child

Every volunteer in the processing centre plays an important role in the ministry of Operation Christmas Child, ensuring the integrity and successful delivery of the gifts. Volunteers in the processing centre form teams and perform all the tasks necessary to process the shoeboxes at one location. Teams are responsible for removing financial contributions from the shoeboxes, inspecting the gifts, sorting inappropriate items, working with filler items, separating boxes by age and gender, and boxing shoeboxes in designated cartons. Due to the fast-paced environment of the warehouse and changing needs, you may be asked to do different tasks. We appreciate your flexibility.

Processing centres are open late-October to late November to prepare gifts for international shipping.

High school aged children may volunteer and must be accompanied by a parent or guardian at all times. Primary school aged children and younger are not permitted  in our short-term warehouses due to WHS risks. For the safety of all volunteers in the warehouse, processing centre staff reserve the right to ask any group not acting in accordance with safety procedures and outlined policies to leave the building at any time.

High schoolers are able to volunteer; however, for those who are younger tours are available throughout the season for families with children or individuals who want to know more about the project can come to the processing centre. The tours help people learn about the journey of a shoebox, what we do at the warehouse, and how they can pray for children receiving boxes.

The locations of our processing centres vary year-to-year, depending on warehouse availability. Address information will be available when processing registration opens here.

Our processing centres are set up in warehouses, so please make proper provisions to be comfortably and appropriately dressed for this environment. It is best to be prepared with closed-toe shoes appropriate for standing for long periods, and warm, layered, casual clothes as the temperature inside can vary. Breaks are available as needed.

You are welcome to take breaks as needed during your time with us. A break area in the processing centre has space to store your meals and snacks. All food and drinks must remain inside the break area. Please be advised that tobacco products are prohibited on the property.

Dedicated volunteers work year-round to promote and pray for Operation Christmas Child. Starting in October, people can sign up to volunteer at processing centres as well. Check out our long-term and short-term volunteer opportunities page here. We also have a resource page full of ideas and materials that will help you, your family, church, business, or community centre get involved in Operation Christmas Child.

Contact Us

Still have questions? One of our team members would be happy to help!