Abortion activists in England are bashing Operation Christmas Child, a charity that provides Christmas gifts to some of the most underprivileged children in the world, because its leader is a pro-life Christian.
Hull Daily Mail reports some people in its Yorkshire, England readership community are angry about the charity’s conservative values and urging others to stop donating the Christmas shoe boxes for needy children.
Operation Christmas Child has donated 146 million shoe-box-sized Christmas packages to children in 150 countries in the past 20 years. Boxes include everything from school and hygiene supplies to stuffed animals, toy cars and dolls. The organization donates boxes to children suffering from poverty, war, disease or natural disaster.
How anyone can find this controversial is difficult to believe, but a few people have found a way. They claim the charity and its CEO Franklin Graham, the son of famous evangelist Billy Graham, are using the Christmas gifts to manipulate children into adopting pro-life, Christian beliefs.
Local resident Ellie Anthony said her school stopped donating Christmas boxes after she complained about how the charity shares the message of Christ’s love with the children.
“Thankfully our school no longer use this charity,” Anthony said. “Please do a little research it.”
Caroline Conroy expressed similar sentiments, saying, “Please research who Operation Christmas Child are before you donate and consider other options.”
Here’s more from the report:
Some of the people campaigning for others to stop supporting the charity believe at best, the charity is not being truthful with the public, and at worst, is guilty of a manipulative form of evangelising children through toys.
The main problem appears to be with Franklin Graham, the CEO and president of Samaritan’s Purse.
He is anti-abortion, anti-gay marriage and anti-gay adoption.
Graham has been a strong advocate for unborn babies as well as born children across the world and against the world’s biggest abortion company.
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“Remember, Planned Parenthood is the largest abortion provider in the U.S., performing over 300,000 abortions annually,” said the Rev. Graham. “The thought of that alone is staggering—what a tragedy.”
“Abortion is the murder of an unborn child,” he said. “What kind of parenting is that?”
A spokesperson for his organization responded to the criticism, saying they just want to show children across the world that they are loved and not forgotten.
“No matter where we go, we don’t hide the fact that we are Christians,” the spokesperson told the newspaper. “We hope that our acts of compassion and the quality of aid that we provide are an example of our faith.
“Samaritan’s Purse is meeting the physical needs of victims of war, famine, natural disaster, and disease with the aim of demonstrating God’s love and sharing the good news of Jesus Christ. The aid and assistance are given without regard to race, creed, gender, religion, sexuality or ethnicity of the beneficiaries,” he continued.
The organization checks every box to make sure that the items are appropriate and not religious, he said. He said children who receive the boxes are invited to participate in a Christian discipleship program but it is “completely voluntary.”
“As our name illustrates, we are upfront about who we are and our purpose to share the true meaning of Christmas — the birth of Jesus Christ,” the spokesperson said.
