The neighborhood was known as Dark Street. The nickname was well-earned.

Lost in the slums of Papua New Guinea, the Dark Street was known for its nightly gun fights as rival gangs battled each other and the police. Mothers would lay awake listening and wondering if their older children would come home, and how many more minutes before the baby woke again from the noise.

Magi, pastor of a church in the community, said the troubles go back for generations. Clans fought against other clans, passing on their hate for the individuals and families of their rivals. The hate is so deep that the children grow up believing that if they talk to their enemy they could be killed themselves.

But then Samaritan's Purse brought the light of Christ to the Dark Street in the form of shoe box gifts from Operation Christmas Child.

When shoe boxes from our office in Australia were distributed at his church, Pastor Magi used the gifts to illustrate that God’s love is for everyone, and the unity that can be found through faith in Christ.

“When we got the gifts, we brought all the kids together, gave them shoe boxes, and made them swap them around because we want them to know that they are friends,” Pastor Magi said. “Then we let them open them. We teach them that now you have shared a box it means that you can share everything.”

Operation Christmas Child first came to the Dark Street four years ago. Pastor Magi has used the gifts to reach out to his neighbors ever since.

“The boxes lay down a good bridge for us and they have brought down walls in the community,” he said. “Since the first shoe box distribution here in 2006, there has been a growing community of believers.”

The shoe box gifts are helping the growing church transform the neighborhood.

“For many years this was called Dark Street,” Magi said. “But I said, ‘No, it’s not a Dark Street anymore—we have to call it Light Street.’ So we asked the government to put electricity in. The government said no but I said, ‘It’s no more Dark Street.’ It took three months of advocacy for the community, and then the government put electricity here. Now the mums say, I can sleep well. The baby can sleep well until the morning.”

Thanks to Pastor Magi and other faithful believers, Operation Christmas Child has helped bring light into the darkest places, replacing crime and neglect with joy and reconciliation.

Samaritan's Purse , Papua New Guinea , Operation Christmas Child , From Darkness to Light