The Rev David Applin, chief executive of SPI, admits that a religious pamphlet - "The greatest gift of all" - is distributed with the boxes (though not inside them). But he denies that the appeal is evangelical. "The word evangelical has connotations and I prefer to think of us as a Christian group," he says, adding that he does not regard SPI as a missionary agency.
( http://society.guardian.co.uk/societyguardian/story/0,7843 ),861580,00.html
However Compare this with what Samaritan's Purse tell the faithful in their Newsletters and on fundamentalist church websites:
From www.samaritanspurse.org/about/pdf/AR2003.pdf
"We shared the Gospel with them and distributed Bibles," Victor said. "Each time we do a distribution, it begins with a testimony that Jesus loves you and died for you...Operation Christmas Child is one of the best evangelistic tools because it is a gift," ministry partner Victor Kulbich said. "It opens the door to telling about Jesus."
"We're over there trying to help them, we're trying to make the quality of their lives better and we're not over there to convert them." [Sean Campbell, executive director of Samaritan's Purse Canada.]
the Christian organisation "Ministrywatch" http://www.ministrywatch.org/mw2.1/H_Home.asp contains the following statement at
http://www.ministrywatch.org/mw2.1/F_SumRpt.asp?EIN =581437002
The conversion of the lost is the ultimate and expressed goal of
Samaritan's Purse. This fact distinguishes them from many other
relief and development organizations, even some others which are
Christian in name and in charter.
This is the most unbelievable crap I have ever heard! You make it sound like there torturing the children into Christian beliefs instead of just handing out leaflets. It's not OCC's fault that its donors are so ignorant and careless. If people really do care about there charities intentions then maybe they should not be so vulnerable and start doing a little research beforehand. For crying out loud Samaritan's Purse is a well known CHRISTIAN organization. If these people you're talking about are so against Christianity then what the hell are they doing donating to this organization? Past years leaflets for Operation Christmas Child contained the verse 2 Corinthians 9:15 and it specifically ask you to pray for the child that will receive your box. How could such "concerned parents" miss this? These people are "horrified" to find out there donating to an organization that promotes Christianity and uses the shoe boxes to help share Christ message with these children but yet they can't read a leaflet before sending the gift? That would worry me. What else are these "concerned parents" unknowingly supporting? If the parents of the shoe box recipients did not want to be involved in ministry then they could turn the opportunity down. No one is forcing them to become Christians. These families can choose not to believe in what OCC has to say. They are walking, breathing, thinking people capable of making there own decisions. The motives of OCC maybe horrifying to you but your concern with the organization is horrifying to me. Please take a step back and think about the facts and opinions your website so strongly suggest. Do hundreds of people really care this much about OCC's motives? I agree that this organization should not be advertised in a school setting but rather at church or other Christian events but I still think it is the donors responsibility for not getting to know the charity before donating or sending a shoe box in this case.
Thank you for your time,
Michelle
shows that I am helping people pick a charity that accords with their conscience.I am so pleased I checked the internet for information before I sent the two boxes I had packed and ready to go! I would have been horrified to think that I had unknowingly (and with good will) contributed to an indoctrination I do not agree with. Thank you!
However my main problem with OCC is that to a large
extent people just don't read what is on the leaflet properly and
amazingly don't even understand that this is an evangelical
organisation despite the leaflets stating (quoting
the UK version in front of me):
"meeting
critical needs of victims of war, poverty, famine, disease, and natural
disaster whilst sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ".
So sure thing to some extent the problem is with the people who don't read the leaflets. I know this for sure because I have pointed out the evangelical nature of OCC to a number of people who have been genuinely surprised and have subsequently stopped doing the shoebox appeal as they do not feel comfortable with religious evangelism. I have also spoken to my local OCC organiser who agrees that people don't read the leaflets as they still get sharp objects and literature which is explicitly asked to avoid on the leaflet. So even on the account of people "not reading the manual" alone I felt an alert was in order. We all know most people don't read manuals before launching into things! As one reader of my site succinctly put it: I am so pleased I checked the internet for information before I sent
the two boxes I had packed and ready to go! I would have been horrified
to think that I had unknowingly (and with good will) contributed to an
indoctrination I do not agree with. Thank you!
However there remain problems with the statement of the evangelical nature of OCC on the leaflet. Firstly this is a recent addition to the leaflets. Two years ago there was little indication that this was an evangelical organisation, let alone an evangelical mission. It was only due to the fuss made in the Guardian, an investigation by the Charities Commission and some charities withdrawing their collection points that made OCC include such a sentence to start with. Second OCC still downplays their evangelical nature in the press. I have had first hand experience of this in my local press and you can see the national picture at http://www.geocities.com Thirdly OCC mislead the children they evangelise. They are known to tell children that "these gifts were given by people who know Jesus." Whereas in fact the gifts are given by a cross section of people, many of whom are not Christian and would balk at being so included. If OCC staff told children that these gifts are actually sent from a cross section of people from various religions and none (even atheists and agnostics) then I could trust them more. There are other Christian organisations which manage aid without aggressive let alone misleading evangelism, such as Christian Aid and CAFOD. Even the Tear Fund, which is an evangelical relief charity is quite open about its activities in a way that Samaritans purse is not. It is the downplaying of the activities of OCC in the press that really disturbs me. If OCC plainly stated on their leaflets that "the shoeboxes are to be used as an evangelical tool" then I would have less of a problem with it, as people could choose to support that if they wanted to. However at present there are people who take part are ill informed and would not do it if they knew the nature of OCC. Hence my website is an alert. You asked:
regardless of their faith (or none), all
children receiving shoeboxes are intended to be registered in advance,
attend a Christian rally, and receive Christian literature wherever the government allows it (
http://www.pursestrings.ca
Evangelical Christians are in general not uneasy with the thought of vulnerable children being evangelised. Sure they are not "forced" to be Christians, but there is an intensive network of OCC working with local Churches to do their best to evangelise children through OCC, so there is little difference. If this doesn't make you feel uneasy then imagine that this was a Muslim organisation holding Islamic meetings telling vulnerable poorly educated children that gifts sent by Muslims, Christians, Hindus, agnostics etc. were all sent by people who have submitted to Allah, and the local Mosques held well organised and intensive follow up meetings to cement this evangelism, and what is more a good proportion of the people who contributed to the shoeboxes read the literature poorly enough to think that this was merely a Christmas present charity. Regards, OCC critic www.geocities.com/occcriticism |
Thank you very much for replying to my e-mail. I must say that I respect your concern for these innocent children and there well being but I disagree that OCC is causing any damage to them. Yes I am quite concerned about impoverished children and families and I am very passionate about helping them in a variety of ways. OCC is only one of those ways. UNICEF, UNHCR and World Vision are other charities I have been supporting and donating to for many years. I have gone on numerous humanitarian trips and I also have two daughters adopted from Vietnam. I love my role as a humanitarian I am and plan to remain a proud donor of OCC. I was just working on some of my shoe boxes today when I came across your website. I was shocked to find out that there were people who criticized and objected to OCC efforts. I see your point on certain motives of OCC but I don't think that you know any more then I do on the manner of witch the leaflets are handed out. I will still continue to send shoe boxes every year but I'm glad I have new points of view on this organization.
Thank you for your time and your concern for these precious children
Michelle
I don't think that you know any more then I do on the manner of witch the leaflets are handed out.
I would like to enquire on behalf of my church Freedom Worship Baptist Church,here in Blanchester, Ohio. If you could send me updates and information on how tostart this outreach in my community, and also how to participate in the outreacharound the world, I would appreciate your help. Please look forward to our churchparticipating in this for years to come.
It is hard for me to understand how you can think they are not open and honest about their mission.
"We are concerned about the way the charity might be representing itself, both in its fund raising and recruitment of volunteers."
I came across your website about Operation Christmas Child. I worked for a company that did (and still does) a huge push to collect gift shoeboxes from the community and from employees for OCC. In fact, our company served as an OCC collection site.Because of the position I held in the company, my boss made me go through the training for people working at collection sights. I was appalled by what I heard. A man who had taken part in the shoebox delivery spoke and said that he did not give the children their shoeboxes unless they brought a friend to hear the story of Jesus. Another said that any child who took a shoebox HAD to take a Bible as well. There was tremendous pressure placed on children who received the shoeboxes (and their families) to convert to Christianity.After hearing that, I was even more appalled when the trainer encouraged us to "downplay" the fundamentalist, evangelical Christian aspect of OCC. (Although we were only supposed to solicit donations from Christians.) She knew very well that not as many people would donate if they were aware that their "gifts" were actually used to bribe children into accepting Bibles and converting to Christianity.Next, we were all supposed to sign a volunteer agreement for OCC. The agreement stated explicitly that we were Christians working for Christ. As I am not a Christian, I did not sign, even though my boss wasn't very happy with me. I told her that if I signed the form, I would be lying; and if she forced me to sign the form, she would be violating my right to religious freedom. Even at the buckle of the Bible belt, that's a no-no for employers.By the time I left the training, I was so disgusted with the whole program that I flatly refused to take any part in OCC for the rest of the time I worked for that company. Some of the other employees tried to make me feel guilty about not even giving a shoebox, but I replied that my time and money went to programs that did not use bribery and coercion to "help" children.
It is hard for me to understand how you can think they are not open and honest about their mission.