Talk:Operation Christmas Child

This is the talk page of a redirect that targets the page:
• Samaritan's Purse
Because this page is not frequently watched, present and future discussions, edit requests and requested moves should take place at:
• Talk:Samaritan's Purse

Criticism of the Program[edit]

There should be mention of the strong and widespread criticism of the oepration. Andy Mabbett 11:35, 26 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]
- Operation Christmas Child brightened the faces of over 2 million kids last year. I have heard NOTHING of any criticism from anyone. Provide an example and source, will you?
  - http://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/05/world/05SALV.html 87.194.56.248 (talk) 14:22, 13 October 2013 (UTC)[reply]
As there have been no sources produced or further discussion about why this article is NPOV, I have removed it. As the article is written, it is factually accurate: they do everything that the article currently says. -KansaiKitsune 01:04, 3 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]
- Critical BBC story They use the shoe boxes to spread evangelist messages without informing the people who give the boxes of its true intent. I can personally verify this, as my school used to take part in this but stopped a couple of years ago when their abuse of the aid was uncovered
  - How is it abuse, if they evangelize? Lot's of Christian charities do. Anyway, the article doesn't make it clear if they do or not. 74.137.230.39 21:19, 19 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  - Your BBC source is from October 2003 in the UK, and now seems to be out of date. The approach seems to have changed in the last couple of years.
    The timeline seems to be:
    2002-3: Spate of critical articles. Examples:
    - Giles Fraser (Anglican Priest) critique in Guardian: The evangelicals who like to giftwrap Islamophobia http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,1081349,00.html
    - Reply by David Vardy, Executive Director of Samaritan's Purse, citing endorsement from Islamic Hospital Director: http://www.guardian.co.uk/letters/story/0,,1087438,00.html
    - Co-op withdraws from collection schene: http://www.guardian.co.uk/religion/Story/0,,1095809,00.html
    Sometime 2004-2005 Charity Commission Investigation, followed by change of practice by Samaritans Purse:
    http://www.samaritanspurse.uk.com/occ/FAQ_leaflet.pdf
    "In a recent communication from the UK Charities Commission (UKCC), following on from an evaluation by them of complaints received about Operation Christmas Child, the Charities Commission says:
    “I am satisfied from your responses and the information provided that Samaritan’s Purse International has conducted Operation Christmas Child in accordance with the principles of charity law. I have, therefore, closed my case into Samaritan’s Purse International.”
    I can find no reference to a full "Section 8" UKCC investigation in their searchable database, so the response seems to have been satisfactory.
    There are a couple of small sites still with webpages, but they are simply reproducing the old articles. Therefore I have propose to edit the page but will hold off for responses. - Julian
  - There's some information about the Charities Commission's initial queries here: [1]. Samaritan’s Purse International's UK 2005 accounts [2] (page 4) briefly describe the shoebox delivery process: In each of the countries in which shoeboxes are distributed we work to develop, train and equip a volunteer team of nationals to collect, transport and distribute the boxes in their own countries. For example in Romania, over the last 16 years the National Leadership Team has built up an extensive network of churches and trustworthy village leaders who are willing to get involved in shoebox distribution across Romania. Each year these churches and local leaders are invited to submit lists of needy children in their areas. The list is then matched against the number of shoeboxes available and decisions are taken. The lorries then deliver the shoeboxes to each district and the local churches and local leaders must account for every box. One aim each year is to send boxes to children in villages where they have never had shoeboxes before .... and may not have ever had Christmas presents in all their young lives. Rwendland 01:34, 1 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]
The Shoe boxes are being destributed in el salvador this year. I think that what samaritans purse does helps people and if they want to spread their beliefs than fine because they are helping kids out which is doing more than other groups are doing for the poor anyways.-Peace

Incorporating Into Samaritan's Purse[edit]

The result was the merge into Samaritan's Purse

Given the paucity of information both here and in the primary Samaritan's Purse article, I would suggest moving this whole text into the Projects section of the Samaritan's Purse main article. Please respond with thoughts, otherwise I'll aim to do it since discussion has been quiet on here for almost a year.SD CA 20:07, 2 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]
- I have moved the bulk of the contents from this article into Samaritan's Purse and I am proposing wiping the text and creating a redirect.SD CA 21:26, 7 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]
  - I have created an archive of this talk page under the Samaritan's Purse article. -- SD CA 17:47, 13 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]