(Samaritan's Purse is an American Christian NGO that for over twenty years has been ministering to victims of earthquakes, hurricanes, wars, and famine all over the globe. It was founded by Bob Pierce in 1970 after he visited suffering children on the Korean island of Kojedo. Pierce was moved to establish Samaritan's Purse "to meet emergency needs in crisis areas through existing evangelical mission agencies and national churches."

After World War II, Bob Pierce traveled throughout Asia as an evangelist and journalist with Youth for Christ. While on a university lecturing circuit in China, he stumbled across some courageous women who were living among lepers and orphans, sacrificing everything to share the love of Jesus Christ. Through the example of their selfless love, God gave Pierce a vision for ministry. He dedicated himself to finding and supporting other such Christians who were caring for the poor and suffering in the distant corners of the world.

In the summer of 1973, Bob Pierce met his eventual successor, an adventurous young student—Franklin Graham—with a growing heart for world missions. Intrigued by his many stories from the field, Franklin began to spend more and more time with the seasoned Christian statesman. In 1975, he accompanied Bob on a life-changing tour of some of the world's neediest mission fields, where Franklin saw the poverty of pagan religions and the utter despair of the people they enslave. God had captured his heart for missions.

In 1978, Bob Pierce died of leukemia, and nearly 18 months later, Franklin Graham became the President and Chairman of the Board of Samaritan's Purse. Samaritan's Purse seeks to fulfill Christ's command—"Go and do likewise," as the Good Samaritan did in Luke 10. Samaritan's Purse travels the world's highways looking for victims along the way, offering help and hope to suffering people in a broken world, sharing the news of the only One who can bring true peace, our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ.)

Last April 20, some 60 boys and girls from the Tagalog and English services of Diliman Campus Bible Church enjoyed a special treat—Christmas in April, when "Operation Christmas Child" came to us in the UP Bonsai Garden courtesy of Samaritan's Purse, a US Christian NGO led by Franklin Graham. Operation Christmas Child is an ongoing project of Samaritan's Purse and has collected and shipped more than 46 million shoebox gifts worldwide since 1993 to help spread the spirit of Christmas.

Shoebox gifts collected in November in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Australia are delivered to girls and boys in almost 100 countries worldwide to help them really know that somebody out there loves them. This after all is the message at the heart of the Christmas Story—and it is being shared by Samaritan's Purse and its partners with millions of children hungry for hope. DCBC's participation as a recipient was made possible when Kuya Caloy Novisteros (pastor of DCBC Sunset Service) and Derf Sibal attended a Samaritan's Purse seminar for Christian pastors in Metro Manila organized under the auspices of ABCCOP (Association of Bible Christian Communities of the Philippines). Through this, DCBC qualified as one of the conduit groups of the gift boxes, for the eventual and final beneficiaries—the smiling and eager DCBC children.

While always happy to come together for games, snacks, and prayer, the kids ranging in age from three to twelve—accompanied by their parents—found it particularly difficult to focus on the proceedings. Brother Vic Mandalupe, who opened the afternoon with a short prayer, had stiff competition from the "mountain" of gaily wrapped boxes piled on a table behind him—these were simply too much of a distraction.

A couple of icebreaker games were held to warm up the expectant group, followed by a series of evangelistic magic tricks by Kuya Caloy (tricks in open-air evangelism that he learned way back in the 80's from Sowers International). And just as the kids were about ready to burst from the anticipation, they were called by name and given numbered stubs with which to claim their gift boxes. All 60 stubs were eventually exchanged for the correspondingly numbered boxes, and the kids settled down to the business of unwrapping.

The covered patio where the gift giving was held was soon filled with squeals of delight and surprise, and some of the children spontaneously broke out in groups, cavorting around to play with and show off their new-found treasures. The opened boxes revealed any combination of jackstones, balls, crayons, stationery, socks, caps, clothes, shoes, stuffed toys, and lots of candy. Each box contained approximately twenty dollars worth of contents. In some were even enclosed letters and photos of the children who had packed the gifts before giving them to Samaritan's Purse.

The atmosphere of joy among the DCBC children that day led even the grownups to feel very much the spirit of Christmas in April.