JOURNEY WITH JESUS

Letter from Franklin Graham

Dear Friend,

How did you spend your summer vacation when you were a kid? As boys and girls in Canada enjoy their time off from school, children in places like the Cape Verde islands have been in class, learning the Bible and discovering God’s love through His Son, Jesus Christ.

We praise God for opening doors earlier this year for us to deliver Operation Christmas Child shoebox gifts for the first time in Cape Verde, a former Portuguese colony off the west coast of Africa. In recent weeks, many of these children have been enrolled in The Greatest Journey, the discipleship classes Samaritan’s Purse offers through local evangelical churches. In June, we celebrated the first graduating class (pictured below). During weeks of lessons, children memorize Scripture, learn why we need a Savior, and discover how they can share the Gospel with friends and family.

Around the world, we’ve seen God work in mighty ways through Operation Christmas Child and The Greatest Journey to raise up a generation of children who follow Christ and understand the urgency of sharing the Gospel with their friends and family. Over the past 15 years, 23 million children have come to faith in Christ through these lessons.

This year, we’re trusting God for enough shoebox gifts so that Operation Christmas Child can reach 12 million children in more than 100 nations. We are working with churches to train teachers to lead The Greatest Journey lessons. Every child who graduates from The Greatest Journey receives an illustrated New Testament in their local language. We have translated The Greatest Journey into 99 languages.

I want to invite you and your church to pack shoebox gifts for Operation Christmas Child and pray for The Greatest Journey. This is our opportunity to help take the Gospel of Jesus Christ “to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8). Thank you for your faithful prayers and generous support of Samaritan’s Purse. May God bless you.

Sincerely,

Franklin Graham

‘I WANT TO FOLLOW JESUS’

IN CAPE VERDE, CLEIZA FOUND HER GREATEST FRIEND IN JESUS.

Among Cleiza’s favorite places was a little classroom where she attended an after-school outreach run by Brazilian and local missionaries in Praia, Cape Verde.

Just a few weeks before, it had been the site of one of the biggest surprises of Cleiza’s life, a gift-filled Operation Christmas Child shoebox sent from Canada. Cleiza was among the first children to receive a shoebox gift in Cape Verde.

“That day was amazing,” said Oliver, a teacher at the after-school outreach. “We could see in their faces the joy when [the children] opened the box. It’s something we cannot describe because you see so much smiling around you. The children are screaming, they are happy—so much joy!”

At the event, Oliver shared the Good News of Jesus’ love. “Most children [in this neighborhood] live in a house where they don’t have a father, and sometimes the mother will have to go find a better life,” Oliver shared. “They don’t have anyone else taking care of them. Often, [the children] live in the streets, where there is much risk. … We can tell them, ‘Jesus loves you.’”

Oliver also invited the boys and girls to come back to learn more about Jesus through The Greatest Journey, Operation Christmas Child’s follow-up discipleship program offered in the weeks after a shoebox outreach event. Cleiza and the other students quickly started working through the 12 Bible lessons.

“Without Jesus, we are nothing in this world, but to Him, we are important.” —CLEIZA

On the day the class reached lesson six, Cleiza arrived to the usual buzz of the other excited students. A circle of white chairs waited for her, as did a stack of The Greatest Journey workbooks in Portuguese, one with her name written neatly on the back.

Oliver opened the class in prayer and led the children in practicing one of their memory verses. That day, it was Romans 10:9: “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved”.

The children clapped and cheered as each took their turn reciting the verse. Oliver then opened The Greatest Journey workbook and taught the story of Jesus’ death and resurrection from the Gospel of Mark.

“Jesus is the Greatest Friend because He gave His life for us, and you don’t have another friend who would do anything as great as what Jesus did for you,” Oliver told the students. “This Friend gives eternal life. You are safe because He gives His life for you.”

The words resonated in Cleiza’s heart. Many days, the young girl felt alone, and she wanted a friend like that. “I want to be closer to God,” she said quietly. “I want to follow Jesus.”

Before the class finished, Oliver led any child who wanted to in a prayer to trust Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Cleiza and many others joined her.

We praise God.

“For me, the greatest thing is salvation for children,” Oliver shared with joy. “Before The Greatest Journey, I wished to teach [the Gospel], but now it is different because the children can see God’s promise come,” she continued. “I am happy for them to understand the way of the Gospel.”

And Cleiza is sharing her new faith with her mother, little sister, and classmates at school. “What the children hear about God, they go sharing,” Oliver said. “They talk about Jesus with such authority that I say, ‘Wow!’ I teach, but I never expect that they are learning so much!”

Around the world, children are being invited to learn about Jesus in classrooms just like Cleiza and Oliver’s in Cape Verde. They are learning who Jesus is, how to follow Him, and how to share Him with others. Will you join in praying that these children will grow in faith, and that many more will have an opportunity to hear the life-transforming Good News?

“I pray that the children in Cape Verde will know God,” Oliver said. “The best thing they can have is Jesus. I know that when I pray, ‘God, show us greater things in Cape Verde,’ it is salvation that they need.”

That’s the truth Cleiza now knows and shares: “Without Jesus, we are nothing in this world, but to Him, we are important.”

‘HE ANSWERS ME’

KENYAN STUDENTS FIND GOD’S PROVISION IN SAFE WATER.

Ivene put one foot in front of the other. Every step on that worn path in rural Kenya meant less time at school for the Grade 8 girl, who dreamed of becoming a pilot. It was a two-kilometer round trip.

Upon arriving at the river, Ivene would lean over to fill her water bottle. Each sip was fraught with danger. “I might be infected with diseases, bacteria, and also diarrhea,” she told us. “I was not able to come to school,” she said, recalling times when waterborne illnesses tore through her body. “I felt very bad.”

But today, Ivene’s feet are planted firmly in front of a large BioSand Water Filter set up just outside her classroom. The powerful, natural filtration system removes bacteria, viruses, and microorganisms that cause deadly diseases like cholera and typhoid fever. It strains out pollutants and organic matter that create cloudiness, discoloration, and a foul taste and smell.

But it also “casts out fear”—giving children like Ivene confidence in the water they drink and pointing them to Christ’s “perfect love” (1 John 4:18).

The filter is a big reminder of His presence and provision. “I can call upon God when I’m faced with challenges, and He answers me. God is our provider so that we can get healthy, uncontaminated water,” Ivene said. “[The water] saves lives. When I am healthy, it boosts my brain power.”

God is not only using these filters to care for the physical needs of children but He is also opening doors to start Bible Clubs in schools. Our local Christian partner trains teachers like Betty to effectively reach children with the Gospel using games, memory verses, worship songs, and prayer. “We are very happy because our students have learned [Biblical] values,” she said. “Knowing God as their personal Savior, they practice these values.”