It was an anonymous gift, trinkets placed in a shoebox that was then sent thousands of miles to another continent.
That shoebox saved a life.
It changed the world.
Today, George Onyango, 41, travels America as a spokesperson for Operation Christmas Child, representing Samaritan’s Purse.
“When I got the box and my eyes went straight to the notebook and the pencil … I started believing there is a God,” Onyango said.
Last week, he was in the Northwest, including Vancouver, touring churches and sharing his story. The push is on for this year’s Operation Christmas Child, where organizers ask folks to place small items — toys, notebooks, knicknacks — in a shoebox. Then Samaritan’s Purse ships those boxes to children all over the world.
The goal is to give a material gift to a child in order to show them that there is a much larger gift: The gospel of Jesus Christ.
Onyango was placed in an orphanage in Uganda because his mother could not afford to raise him after Onyango’s father died. Onyango was 14 years old and suicidal. He was angry. He had hate in his heart. He questioned how God could provide for so many others but do this to his family.
A shoebox full of small gifts was the start of something spiritual.
“When they handed me the shoebox, my friend preached to me the gospel, that there was a true gift of Jesus Christ, who came and died on a cross for us, and it was a gift to us,” Onyango said.
At the time in school, Onyango’s class met under a tree. He had no school supplies. He used his finger to draw in the dirt.
A notebook and a pencil, taken for granted in America, were the greatest gifts imaginable for Onyango.
There was another gift in that box that still means so much to him today. A Yo-Yo. Onyango did not know what it was, but this particular one would light up when it was moved or shaken. He ended up giving that to his mom, who lived in a room with no electricity. That Yo-Yo was a night light for his mother.
Onyango said he did not believe these tools were a coincidence. God, he said, used someone from across the ocean to send him a box filled with exactly what he needed, at the exact perfect time.
“I didn’t think twice,” Onyango said. “I decided to give my life to Jesus Christ. … From that time, from hating Him, I ended up loving God and I became involved in the church.”
Onyango would go on to learn seven languages. He moved to the United States in 2009. Today, he has a wife and they have three children, where they live in Texas.
And yet his story with Operation Christmas Child still had another chapter.
In 2024, he and his family went to a community event near their home in San Antonio. There was a Samaritan’s Purse booth, with representatives talking about Operation Christmas Child.
The memories washed over Onyango. He shared with one of his daughters what had happened to him decades earlier.
“Without that shoebox, you would have not been born,” he told her. “My life would not have been changed. I was going to commit suicide. That shoebox saved my life.”
That chance meeting with Samaritan’s Purse led to the tour of America today. Onyango has a full-time job and runs his own nonprofit organization, but he also loves sharing his story for Operation Christmas Child.
The push for this year’s Operation officially starts today, Oct. 1. Many local churches participate, encouraging their members to pack a shoebox, two, three or more. David Reece, who works for Samaritan’s Purse in the Southwest Washington and Portland area, said anyone can pack a shoebox. A lot of scout troops participate, as well as area businesses.
“For many of these children, it’s the only gift they’re going to ever receive in their entire lives,” Reece said. “This is the one opportunity to be able to show love to a child in these circumstances … through a simple gift that God uses in a mighty way to show hope and love into their heart.”
Collection week for this year’s operation is Nov. 16 through 23. There are more than 5,000 locations nationwide. For more information on Operation Christmas Child, including tips on what to pack in a shoebox, go to: samaritanspurse.org/occ
Since 1993, more than 240 million shoeboxes have been collected for children in more than 175 countries. The goal this year is to reach 12.8 million children.
“It’s going to save a life. It gave me a second chance at life,” Onyango said. “You give today, it’s going to save another life out there some day. You packing a shoebox is a way of sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ.”