Originally published September 23, 2019

(This article has been modified and updated since its original publication. Please read this entire article – especially the addendum section – before commenting.)

I lead the children’s ministry in our small rural church, and for years our children have participated in the Operation Christmas Child shoebox “ministry.” It has come to my attention that this program may be quite ineffective in spreading the gospel. In fact, I have read that many missionaries refuse the boxes because it causes such chaos and confusion. I would like recommendations of legitimate world mission organizations [we could donate to instead] that would allow our children to look past our sheltered life here to what God is doing in other parts of His creation.

Wait…what? Christmas? It’s only September!

Yep. Christmas will be here sooner than you think, and your church staff and committees are probably already planning for it. And if your church usually participates in Operation Christmas Child (OCC) but might decide to do something different this year because of the information in this article, they’re going to need some time to get their ducks in a row.

Operation Christmas Child is a ministry of Franklin Graham’s Samaritan’s Purse organization, an evangelistic “international relief” outreach. Each fall, churches across the U.S. encourage their members to fill an OCC shoebox with small gifts and hygiene items. OCC collects the boxes, tucks in a gospel booklet, and delivers the boxes to children in various locations around the world. At an OCC shoebox distribution event, an OCC representative shares the gospel with the assembled children and then distributes a box to each child.

There are two separate questions in this reader’s e-mail:

• Should my church participate in Operation Christmas Child?
• What are some other good international ministries my church could participate in instead?

Should you or your church participate in the Operation Christmas Child shoebox program? Some things to think about…

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Should I/my church participate in Operation Christmas Child?

I want to clarify this question a little bit. I understand what the reader who sent this e-mail means when she mentions missionaries reporting “chaos and confusion” resulting from shoebox distribution, because prior to receiving her e-mail, I had already been reading reports (maybe the same ones she read) of exactly the same thing (more on that in a sec). So the main issue the reader is asking about is whether or not the shoebox distributions are the most efficient, effective, and biblical way to share the gospel and undergird missionary efforts.

However, since I originally published this article in 2019, I’ve become aware of another issue with OCC that needs to be a weighty consideration when deciding whether or not to have anything to do with OCC, Samaritan’s Purse, or Franklin Graham, and that is the fact that Franklin Graham yokes in ministry with some of the worst false teachers out there.

For example:

In 2019, he recommended New Apostolic Reformation heretic Paula White’s new book. (This tweet was later deleted.)

During Franklin Graham’s “Prayer March 2020” he partnered and joined in prayer with numerous heretics, false teachers, and their organizations, including TBN (Trinity Broadcasting Network), Matt and Laurie Crouch (heads of TBN), Jonathan Cahn, Jentezen Franklin, Robert Morris (revealed in 2024 to have been a lying child sexual abuser), and Paula White, among others, and then unashamedly platformed them on his Twitter feed. This was not a little “oopsie” with one person he disagrees with on baptism or eschatology. These are people who are blatantly immersed in New Apostolic Reformation and other egregious false doctrine. It is inexcusable for a professing Christian of his stature and influence a) not to know this, or b) to know it and ignore it, defying Scripture’s many commands not to associate with such reprobates.

Franklin also promotes his sister, Anne Graham Lotz, and platforms her in the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association’s (BGEA) Decision Magazine. As CEO of BGEA, he has allowed people like Brian Johnson¹ (Bethel’s senior worship “pastor”; Jenn Johnson’s husband, Bill Johnson’s son), Beth Moore, Priscilla Shirer, Christine Caine², and Sheila Walsh³ to be featured on the BGEA website and in other BGEA media. He has allowed BGEA’s The Cove conference center to be used for events featuring Beth Moore⁴ and Lisa Harper⁵.

(¹screenshot, ²screenshot, ³screenshot 1, 2, ⁴screenshot, ⁵screenshot; The linked articles for Beth Moore and Priscilla Shirer have apparently been archived or scrubbed from the website.)

Franklin has featured Hillsong and Phil Wickham¹ (close ties to Bethel) at his events. In 2020, he participated in the Hope Rising Benefit Concert, which featured, among others, modalist and prosperity preacher T.D. Jakes, Priscilla Shirer, and Lysa TerKeurst. All funds raised went to Samaritan’s Purse. (If you’re unclear on why these people are unbiblical, click here.)

(¹screenshot 1, 2)

He may be a really nice guy who’s on the right side of politics and important biblical issues like homosexuality and abortion, and he may do a lot of good charity work, and you may have a sentimental attachment to his father (Billy Graham), but none of that mitigates the fact that he’s defying Scripture – sinning – by yoking with some really egregious false teachers.

Until/unless Franklin Graham publicly repents of this sin, it is my recommendation that you not participate in or donate to Operation Christmas Child, nor have anything to do with Franklin Graham, nor either of the two organizations of which he is president and CEO: Samaritan’s Purse and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.

Now, to the reader’s question: Is the OCC shoebox program the wisest way to steward our church’s resources – could we get more gospel bang for our buck another way? Is this a biblical model for sharing the gospel? Do shoebox distributions cause problems for missionaries and the communities they serve in?

And for the answers to those questions, I would encourage every church and individual considering participating in OCC not only to heavily weigh the information above about Franklin Graham’s yoking with false teachers, but also to read all of the information at the OCC website and compare what you read to these missionaries’ first hand accounts^A of how shoebox distributions were handled and how the distributions impacted their work and communities. Then, prayerfully consider choosing another, doctrinally sound evangelistic organization to support instead.

“What happens when the life-transforming gospel of Jesus Christ
is associated with dollar-store trinkets from America?”

“In some places, we haven’t been well-received because the missionaries who went there before us presented gifts….and we have no gifts. When those missionaries left, their ‘converts’ also returned back to their old faith and were waiting for the next gift presenters.”

Opening Up Christmas Shoeboxes: What Do They Look Like On the Other Side?
and
Sometimes the Starfish Story Doesn’t Work
These articles (the second is a follow up to the first) are both by Amy Medina.

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“When Saddam Hussein was terrorizing the Kurds…an American was in Baghdad meeting with the Minister of Health. The minister abruptly said “I have to go – do you want to come with me? I have to do something for our leader’s birthday.” The American goes with him. They go to a warehouse in Baghdad, and there sit piles and piles of Samaritan’s purse Christmas Shoe Boxes. The Minister of Health is supervising minions to deliver all of them to the Children’s Hospital as gifts from Uncle Saddam for his birthday….a bunch of Iraqi kids got wonderful gifts from Saddam by way of Franklin Graham at Samaritan’s Purse.”

13 Things I Want American Christians to Know about the Stuff You Give Poor Kids by Rachel Pieh Jones (UPDATE, September 2023: This article was deleted by the author, but an archived version may be accessed here.)

🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄

…the Operation Christmas Child boxes had reached the warehouse in Ndola and…the Mansa churches needed to come up with eight kwacha per box for 5,000 boxes to receive their shipment. That’s $4,000USD…comments from the pastors ranged from, “We don’t have this kind of money,” to, “Aren’t these boxes supposed to be free?” to, “Next year, let’s just refuse the boxes all together!”

boxing up expectations: reflections on OCC and the church by Bethany Colvin

What are some ministries you or your church could participate in *instead of* Operation Christmas Child’s shoebox program?

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What are some other good international ministries I/my church could participate in instead?

Whether you’re looking for a ministry to donate to or a way to tangibly serve others, the first thing I would recommend is that you ask your pastor what the needs are in your own church (remember, we serve the needs of our own church members first before serving others). It’s not biblical to overlook the needs of the brother or sister down the pew from you in favor of strangers half a world away.

But if everyone in your church is taken care of, your pastor may be able to suggest a local or international ministry that could use your help. Many churches donate directly to various individual missionaries and local and international ministries, and I think you should support your church and its leadership by donating to the (doctrinally sound) ministries they have chosen before looking for other ministries to donate to.

But if your pastor doesn’t have any suggestions, may I make a few?

If your church has grown accustomed to participating in OCC over the years, one way to wean them off OCC could be for your church to host a Christmas party for local foster children and their families (which might even be families in your own church). You could set this up in a similar way to OCC events overseas with gifts and a gospel presentation. It won’t be international, but participants could still buy gifts for the children, and this way, they could attend the party and witness first hand the children opening the gifts and hearing the gospel. Contact foster parents you know and/or your local foster care agency for invitees and suggestions. And fire up your internet search engine for party ideas. (I found this, which you could borrow ideas from, but I’m not familiar with this organization or its theology, so don’t consider this link a recommendation for the organization.)

If you’re looking specifically for an organization with international reach, my suggestion would be to give what people need the most: the gospel and God’s Word:

Tomorrow Clubs

The Master’s Academy International

HeartCry Missionary Society

Pocket Testament League

Some of the articles I linked to earlier in this post include information on alternatives to OCC, and I’ve given a few more thoughts here.

Whichever ministry you choose to serve or donate to, make sure to vet its theology, and make sure they are sharing the gospel along with whatever relief or goods they are providing.

Additional Resources

Operation Christmas Child at When We Understand the Text (starting at the 31:26 mark)

OCC Shoeboxes: Answering the Arguments

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Addendum: After the original publication of this article, most of the feedback I received was thoughtful and positive. However, I was shocked at the number of nasty, enraged comments and e-mails I received – from professing Christians, mind you – that seemed to elevate participation in OCC to an idolatrous level. What you prayerfully decide to do about participating in OCC is between you and God, but if you are angered by the information in this article to the point that you strike out at me or one of the missionaries who has simply stated her honest experience with OCC, you need to check your heart against Scripture. You are idolizing OCC over loving your brothers and sisters in Christ, and you’re acting in a way unbecoming of a professing Christian.

If you are considering responding to this article with nastiness or rage, please save yourself some time and don’t bother. I will not publish comments like that anywhere on my blog or social media, and I will immediately delete (without reading, and certainly without responding) any such emails.

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^AThese specific articles are provided for their attestation to experiences with OCC, only. I do not endorse any of these sites which deviate from Scripture or my theology as outlined in the “Welcome” and “Statement of Faith” tabs in the blue menu bar at the top of this page.

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If you have a question about: a Bible passage, an aspect of theology, a current issue in Christianity, or how to biblically handle a family, life, or church situation, comment below (I’ll hold all questions in queue {unpublished} for a future edition of The Mailbag) or contact me. If your question is chosen for publication, your anonymity will be protected.