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There are over 1 million reasons to take part in Operation Christmas Child (well, 1.12 million in fact - that's the number of shoeboxes we sent out to children in need last year).

We want to tell you about just 3 of them..

Sekou, from Liberia

Nine year old Sekou lives with his family in a Muslim suburb of Monrovia, Liberia's capital city. Their little home is near a church where the local OCC leader runs a thriving children's ministry.

Sekou and his five siblings have desperately little. When it was time to receive their shoeboxes from church, Sekou could hardly sit still. He was so excited when he received his shoebox. As each of his siblings received their own shoebox Sekou shouted for joy, exclaiming: "I am just too happy to see my sisters and brother get a box too!"

Giddy with excitement the children danced all the way home, singing loudly: "We got our present! We got our present!" Their Mother came out and greeted them with a broad smile saying: "I'm happy too much to see my children get gifts and be happy like this. I am not able to give them something like this but the church, the church can do it!"

Lisa, from the Ukraine

Lisa is eight years old and lives in a small village in the north of Crimea, an autonomous region of Ukraine.

Two years ago, Lisa was diagnosed with leukaemia. Right now, she's doing pretty well although her liver is not in a good condition, due to a blood infection that happened while she was having chemotherapy.

The OCC team actually visited Lisa at her home to deliver her shoebox, as she wasn't able to go to the shoebox distribution in her village. She beamed a proud smile as she opened her shoebox, putting on the hat, gloves and scarf that someone in the UK had lovingly packed.

"You know, we appreciate these gifts very much," said Lisa's mum, summing up the feelings of both Lisa and her sister, who also received a shoebox. "Children only need a few things to make them happy. These gifts are more than enough to make our children happy."

Vanya, from Belarus

Little Vanya is just four years old. Sadly he has no mother or father. Home for Vanya is a tiny hospital ward deep in the chilly city of Mogilev in the country of Belarus.

Vanya has cerebral palsy which limits his movement and breathing and so he spends his days in a cot.

When the OCC Team delivered Vanya's shoebox the two children who share his room had their mothers with them but Vanya was alone. His eyes were empty and he was listless. A team member gave Vanya a friendly teddy bear (pictured) from his box and gently stroked his face. Though he is unable to speak his big brown eyes lit up with delight and his beaming smile spoke more than words ever could.

The team said: "We had the absolute joy of spending a little time with him, holding his hand, blowing some bubbles over his cot and watching him cuddle into the teddy bear!"

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