I want to mention again, so that our readers are clear, that the Christian charity Samaritan’s Purse, which runs Operation Christmas Child, is not removing material with Christian themes from their donation boxes. Apparently the British branch of the charity made a unilateral decision (reported here) to remove these items out of fear of offending Muslims—but this is not the policy of the parent group, which is a Franklin Graham organization based here in the US.

A reader forwarded the following email she received in reply to her questions about the issue:

Greetings from Samaritan’s Purse and Operation Christmas Child. Please feel free to place any Christian literature inside of your shoe box gift; including Bibles, tracks, Christmas Cards, etc. These items will not be removed during our inspection process at the Processing Centers.

Thank you for taking the time to write. Please let us know should you have any additional questions.

Sincerely,

Stacey Russell
Administrative Assistant/Correspondent
Operation Christmas Child
Samaritan’s Purse

srussell@samaritan.org
www.samaritan.org

National Collection Week November 13-20, 2006