Samaritan's Purse

A few things you should know about Operation Christmas Child

It’s that time of the year again. This is the time when people start buying school supplies, shoes, clothes, toys, and begin looking for that one Wow item for each one of their shoeboxes. Operation Christmas Child volunteers are gearing up for National Collection Week this November 13-20, 2017! This is the one week per year where millions of shoeboxes will be collected from millions of individuals all across the United States and then processed and shipped off to more than 100 countries around the world.

Last year I wrote an article called Top 10 Reasons to Pack an Operation Christmas Child Shoebox! The year before that I wrote, 3 Reasons Pastor should encourage their Churches to Volunteer with Operation Christmas Child. If you didn’t already know, I’m on staff at Samaritan’s Purse, specifically on the Operation Christmas Child team. You might say that I’m biased, you’re right.

I didn’t end up at Samaritan’s Purse by accident, I specifically wanted to work here. So although I may be biased, it doesn’t mean that what I’m saying isn’t true.

My goal here is not to answer questions like, when is National Collection Week? What can I pack in my shoebox? How much is shipping? Or where’s the nearest drop off to me? You can find the answers to all of those questions at our website, https://www.samaritanspurse.org/what-we-do/operation-christmas-child/.

What I’m going to do is to talk about things at a little bit of a broader and more general level. I’m going to write some reasons why you should love Operation Christmas Child and why you should participate.

1. Operation Christmas Child is led by a volunteer in your community

Many times, when I hear someone complain about the Operation Christmas Child model, it’s really born out of a lack of understanding about how the organization works.

Although we distribute shoeboxes in over 100 countries around the world, we do not have staff in over 100 countries around the world.

This is how it really works. Highly dedicated volunteers in your local community in the United States are working all year long with churches, community organizations, Christian schools, and local media to promote Operation Christmas Child and get ready for National Collection Week.

Shoeboxes are packed by individuals, collected at churches, and then sent to warehouses we call Processing Centers where they’ll be prepped to ship internationally.

At over 100 countries around the world, local volunteers will receive these shoeboxes and then follow their predetermined plan of distribution by partnering with local pastors who have developed plans to use shoeboxes to engage their communities.

That means that local Pastors and Community leaders in the Philippines volunteer to work with churches in the Philippines to distribute shoeboxes in different communities throughout the Philippines.

The fact is that Operation Christmas Child is always led by a volunteer in his or her own community. It doesn’t matter if it’s Rochester or Rio.

2. Shoeboxes support local communities

The reality is that there is some small but vocal opposition to the impact Operation Christmas Child can have on a local community. Almost all of this opposition comes from a handful of upper middle class Americans who somehow, have a problem with children in need around the world receiving gifts.

It must be great to be in a situation where you’re wealthy enough to determine that others shouldn’t receive gifts.

Honestly, some of these individuals might mean well. They might have read a book like When Helping Hurts or Toxic Charity and now are looking for solutions to end the cycle of poverty. The problem is, Operation Christmas Child’s mission isn’t necessarily to end poverty. It’s to bring the Hope of Jesus Christ to children in need around the world.

Unfortunately, many people who read these books end up using these books as an excuse to sit back and do nothing. Sometimes these decisions are made based off of assumptions made in ignorance.

Each shoebox is used by a local Pastor or Community Leader to serve his or her community.

Do children in other countries actually need these things? Sometimes yes and sometimes no. There are children who need notebooks or shoes in order to attend school. There are others who don’t need a yoyo, but love receiving it anyway. Can a yoyo change a life? Absolutely, read Kojo’s story here.

Will it disrupt the local economy? No. The fact is that 50 or so shoeboxes going to 50 children who probably can’t afford much in a community of tens of thousands of people won’t negatively affect the local economy.

Is this an American program pushing American policies and ideals on others? No, each shoebox is a tool used by a local Pastor or Community Leader to serve his or her community. There are no Operation Christmas Child staff members living in Colombia trying to figure out how to distribute shoeboxes all year long. All that is done by an incredible team of Colombian leader volunteers who are called to bless their nation with the Gospel, and who want to do it in a practical way.

3. Samaritan’s Purse does it better

What is it that we do better? We bring the love of Jesus Christ to a hurting world in a real and practical way. We love to do things in excellence. Think about who your go-to charity is and then compare them to Samaritan’s Purse on Charity Navigator. We’ll likely have a higher star rating and a higher accountability rating. We’re able to respond to disasters in a lighting fast way. Not only does Samaritan’s Purse have the resources and expertise to respond, but we have the will. When our leadership says, “Go”, we go.

We bring the love of Jesus Christ to a hurting world in a real and practical way.

We want to represent Jesus

Samaritan’s Purse is not affiliated with a particular church, movement, political affiliation, or even a specific culture. Children who receive shoeboxes are freely invited to events where shoeboxes are handed out and are not screened by their faith or culture. We don’t promote a religion or a cause. We want to show God’s love in a tangible way and give others an opportunity to follow Jesus Christ. That’s it.

Below are all of the Samaritan’s Purse articles I’ve written over the years.

4 Lessons from 4 Years at Samaritan’s Purse International Relief

By Pedro Leave a Comment

4 Lessons from 4 Years at Samaritan's Purse

In July, I celebrated my four years of working at Samaritan’s Purse International Relief. Congratulations to me! In addition to that, a couple months ago I received a promotion. Congratulations to myself again! Before I get into what that means, let me say a few words about Samaritan’s Purse in general.

What’s Samaritan’s Purse International Relief?

In the Christian world, Samaritan’s Purse is often looked at as a legendary type of organization. Our leader, Franklin Graham, makes the news quite often. Whether it’s Facing the Darkness of Ebola in West Africa or being asked to comment on how a political decision affects people of faith in the United States, he’s outspoken and unashamed.

Top 10 Reasons to Pack an Operation Christmas Child Shoebox!

By Pedro Leave a Comment

We’re here! National Collection Week is upon us. At Operation Christmas Child this year, we’re looking forward to collecting millions of shoeboxes worldwide. This is a huge deal! In just a couple decades, Operation Christmas Child has grown into a worldwide ministry distributing over 120 million shoebox gifts in over 100 countries.

Before I get into my Top 10 Reasons to Pack an Operation Christmas Child shoebox, I have a confession to make….. [Read more…] about Top 10 Reasons to Pack an Operation Christmas Child Shoebox!

3 Lessons from 3 Years at Samaritan’s Purse

By Pedro Leave a Comment

In July, I celebrated my third year of working at Samaritan’s Purse, specifically, on the Operation Christmas Child team. Everyone always wants to know how I like it. Let me tell you a little bit about Operation Christmas Child, are you ready? Honestly, it’s awesome! I’ve learned a lot over the last three years. Many would like to know where to get empty shoeboxes or how to volunteer with Samaritan’s Purse, but you can go on our website for that. I have learned a ton about Operation Christmas Child and what makes it the world leader in children’s evangelism. It would be impossible for me to share all of those lessons, but I would like to give you three of them…… [Read more…] about 3 Lessons from 3 Years at Samaritan’s Purse

Why Franklin Graham is grossly UNDERpaid

By Pedro Leave a Comment

I work for Samaritan’s Purse. It’s not too long after telling someone this that they’ll comment about Franklin Graham’s supposed excessive salary, often incorrectly stating that he’s the highest paid nonprofit CEO. Never mind that the CEOs for The United Way, Goodwill, March of Dimes, American Red Cross, American Jewish Committee, American Cancer Society, Wildlife Conservation Society, World Wildlife Fund, World Vision and countless others earn more. Not to mention, or maybe I will mention that many of these organizations have considerably lower efficiency and accountability scores.

Let me step on my soapbox for a little bit….

3 Reasons Pastors should encourage their Churches to volunteer with Operation Christmas Child

By Pedro 2 Comments

Am I biased?

With so many churches struggling to meet their weekly needs in terms of finances and volunteers, why on Earth would a Pastor encourage his congregation to apply to volunteer year round with Operation Christmas Child? After all, won’t they give Operation Christmas Child all their time? Doesn’t this take away from the Church?

What if I told you that we never leave a man behind? What if I told you we have incredible leaders, great staff members, and great volunteers? Does that convince you? No? Ok.

If you’re a Pastor, you need to read this. By the end of this (short) post, I’m going to convince you that encouraging your people to volunteer with Operation Christmas Child is the best thing that you could do.

1. Operation Christmas Child volunteers don’t stop serving in their church.

We conducted a survey of our volunteers and one thing really surprised me. Over 90% of our over 8,000 year round volunteers serve in other organizations. The most common place they serve is their church.

I get it. I was a Children’s Ministry Pastor. I know what it’s like to have a big hole in your weekend schedule. But I assure you, someone volunteering with Operation Christmas Child isn’t going negatively affect your schedule!

2. Operation Christmas Child volunteers are very aware of what God is doing around the world.

Operation Christmas Child volunteers not only become better volunteers for you, but they become more aware Christians. We’re a Christian international relief organization. We’re constantly communicating the impact that our US volunteers are making across the world. That’s right. That little old grandma who has been serving with Operation Christmas Child for 10 years is probably responsible for THOUSANDS of children coming to faith in Jesus Christ, and she knows it.

This can also be intimidating for many Pastors. People in your congregation can know more about the work of the global church than you. There is so much to do week in and week out, that it’s impossible for Pastors to keep up to date with everything. You worry about your family, your staff, your church, your community, your city, and many other things. Do you really need to know exactly where that cyclone hit in the Philippines and what the response has been?

No, you probably don’t. But I guarantee you that most of our volunteers know exactly where it hit and what the international response has been.

3. Operation Christmas Child volunteers become even better leaders.

We invest in our volunteers like no one else. Seriously, I’ve never seen anything like this. Conferences, monthly calls, eLearning, workshops, you name it. We even have an entire website, full of resources, solely dedicated to our US volunteers. Yes, I know some churches have them. I’ve seen them. The Operation Christmas Child website blows them away in terms of resources available.

Do you know that our volunteers serve in dedicated roles with ministry descriptions that they sign? Do you know that their roles are part of an org chart that covers a specific local area? Do you know that these areas end up covering the entire United States?

Our volunteers have the opportunity to become experts in recruiting, selecting, equipping, leading, and developing other volunteers. We have volunteer leaders that lead teams of other volunteers. Sounds good, huh?

What if I told you that I could give the people in your church a crash course in international ministry, train them to recruit and lead volunteers, take on incredible responsibility, teach them practical things like how to set up a booth, how to put together a presentation, or how to lead millennials in ministry, all while they continue to serve in your church?

Have I convinced you?

5 Questions to ask while looking for a Church

By Pedro Leave a Comment

My wife, daughter, and I relocated from Miami to Boone, NC in the summer of 2013 so I could start working at Samaritan’s Purse. Since then, we’ve been looking for a new home church. Everyone always asks me what the toughest part of moving is. Is it the cold? No. Is it living in a small town? No. Is it being away from Latin food? Possibly, but no. Finding a home church has definitely been the most difficult part of relocating to Boone.

Granted, we were spoiled in Miami. We went to an awesome church where I had the privilege of being on staff. Fast forward to now. I’m a terrible Christian. I have yet to say that I have really found a church home. We visit churches all the time and we understand that no two churches are the same and therefore, we won’t find exactly what we had in Miami, but still.

Boone is beautiful and we like being here. But the longer we’re here the more important it is that we establish constant fellowship with a group of local believers. So as we’re visiting all these churches I repeatedly ask myself 5 simple questions (which are in no particular order).

1. Do I really need to go to Church?

This is a legitimate question. Many Christians feel like they don’t get anything out of church. I understand why. Many churches are preaching messages that are mostly irrelevant. They’re answering questions that no one is asking. At the same time, they refuse to get dirty with people’s real issues.

Another factor is learning style. Churches are academic in nature. Think about it. You sit in an auditorium for an hour and listen to someone speak. Most people never do that outside of Sunday morning. Still, the best churches will have many ways to connect with people and grow in your faith.

There are many reasons why some Christians say they don’t need to attend church. Many of those are legitimate, but not for us. The relationships you build in church, the opportunities to serve others, and the growth that happens within a local church context can’t be matched in any other format.

2. Does this Church strive to be excellent?

I know I’m spoiled. But I want to go to a church that strives for excellence. Not perfection, but excellence. It doesn’t mean that they need fancy lights and a top notch worship team, but it means that they’re constantly trying to be better. Nothing says “I don’t care” like sitting through a Sunday morning service where everything was obviously thrown together the night before.

3. Can I bring non-Christian friends to this Church?

There are some churches that specialize in welcoming non-Christians, that’s where I want to go. On the flip side, there are churches that, whether they realize it or not, do everything they can to push people away. Some of these churches are so cryptic in their language and culture, other Christians won’t even know what’s going on. That’s not what we want. We want a church that we can bring all of our family and friends to without it being weird.

4. What do they believe?

Another important question. What a church believes is central to who they are and who you may eventually become. Another follow up question would be, “How do their beliefs reveal themselves?” Many churches may believe the same exact thing but you will never know it because that’s not what they focus on. Because of that, it’s difficult to gauge the beliefs a church truly holds after just a few visits. And unfortunately, most churches don’t put enough importance on their statement of faith or mission statement to have it mean anything other than the very basics.

5. How’s their Student Ministry?

This may or may not apply to you. If you have children in this age group then this is one of the most important questions. I want my daughter to be safe, cared for, and taught the Word of God in Children’s Ministry. Those were my expectations when I was a Children’s Ministry Pastor. So why would they change now? We have decided to not go back to some great churches here in Boone. Our main reason? They were lacking a strong Children’s Ministry.