Operation Christmas Child Comes Full Circle

Shoe Box Gift Recipients Give Back

Operation Christmas Child reaches far beyond the moments of joy a child experiences while opening a shoe box gift. In fact, God is transforming lives through Operation Christmas Child and cultivating a generation of children who rise above their circumstances to give back to others. Here are a few of these children's stories.

Giving Out of Gratitude

When Janice received an Operation Christmas Child shoe box gift as an 11-year-old at a Filipino orphanage, it was the first gift she received that went beyond her basic necessities. Today, Janice and her siblings live with their adopted family in Denver. "Now, I love packing shoe box gifts. I need to help, since I was once in their situation."

Minnesota Miracle

Three families in Minnesota spent more than 10 years filling shoe boxes gifts for Operation Christmas Child - only to discover while at a Russian orphanage that their adopted children were recipients of shoe box gifts. Today the three families, with their adopted children, continue to pack shoe box gifts, having personally experienced the profound impact an Operation Christmas Child gift can have on a child.

First Gift Ever

Cal State student Huda still vividly remembers the excitement she felt when someone handed her that special shoe box gift at a small church in Zarqa, Jordan. Her father was out of work at the time, and life was extremely diffi cult for the family. The last thing 9-year-old Huda expected was to be on the receiving end of an act of kindness from someone whom she had never even met. Now, she is thrilled to have the ability to share that same act of kindness with other needy kids.

Coming Full Circle

A simple gift changed Oksana's life when she was a little girl in a Russian orphanage. Now she has come full circle, sharing the same hope she received by hand-delivering shoe box gifts to needy children in Panama.