A report by Hampton Johnson

Samaritan’s Purse is a non-denominational evangelistic Christian organization that works worldwide to assist people in physical need while ministering to their spiritual need. The name comes from the parable of Jesus and the Good Samaritan where it is taught that we should love thy neighbor as thyself. They do work in over 100 countries worldwide.

Samaritan’s Purse began as a mission to meet the emergency needs of crisis areas through existing evangelical mission agencies and national churches. Throughout the years, Samaritan’s Purse has grown and expanded worldwide. As it grew, not only have they funded mission partners, but also it added more large-scale relief projects to help them reach more people. Some of these missions include Operation Christmas Child (OCC), Children’s Heart Project and World Medical Mission (WMM).

It began with a vision by a man named Dr. Bob Pierce. While traveling as an evangelist and journalist with the Youth for Christ, Bob came across women in China who were living among lepers and orphans. Their compassion and selfless love in sharing the word of Jesus Christ inspired him to begin the ministry we know as Samaritan’s Purse in 1970.

In 1973, Pierce met an adventurous student with a heart for missions. This student was Franklin Graham who was the eldest son of Billy and Ruth Bell Graham. Franklin accompanied Pierce on a tour of some of the neediest mission fields in In 1978, Pierce died suddenly from leukemia and Graham took over one year later as chairman of Samaritan’s Purse. Through his leadership, Samaritan’s Purse has met the needs of the poor, sick and suffering people in over 100 countries.

Samaritan’s Purse has international headquarters in Boone, North Carolina with additional U. S. facilities in Charlotte and North Wilkesboro, North Carolina. Their affiliate offices are in Australia, Canada, Germany, Ireland, Hong Kong, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Field offices are located in some 20 countries across 5 continents.

Operation Christmas Child is the global Christmas gift exchange project that started in Each November, it opens thousands of locations, typically in schools and churches to collect shoeboxes filled with toys, school supplies and personal items. These boxes are distributed as Christmas gifts, accompanied by Christian literature. From the beginning in 1993 until 2008, over 69 million gift boxes have been handed out in more than 130 countries. A small, simple gift can become a powerful influence in a child’s life.

Children’s Heart Project works with top-quality hospitals to provide critical surgery for children who live in other countries where the required medical expertise and equipment are not available. Since 1997, Children’s Heart Project has arranged life-saving operations for more than 600 children from Bosnia, Kosovo, Honduras, Uganda, Mongolia and Bolivia. Samaritan’s Purse arranges airfare for the child, a parent and a translator. This can cost as much as $2,200 for a round trip ticket.

They locate a church and families willing to host the group by providing housing, local transportation, food, toiletries, international phone cards and emotional and spiritual support and guidance for at least five weeks. They commit to pray and spearhead the entire project. By doing so, they experience missions work right in their own backyard and the opportunity to impact the nations with the love of Christ.

In 1977, a young Franklin Graham was approached by 2 surgeon brothers, Drs. Lowell and Richard Furman, wishing to spend their vacation volunteering in the mission field. Upon researching to prevent duplication of services, Graham found no other organizations involved in this way and the WMM was born. It provides Christian physicians, dentists and other medical personnel to mission hospitals and clinics all over the world.

This is a 2 year program, which is part of World Medical Mission, for gifted and dedicated Christian physicians who wish to serve in the mission field after finishing their residency program. These physicians are placed at a mission hospital to serve within their specialty. Logistical and financial support is provided along with assistance to help repay student loans.

Prescription for Hope mobilized private, church, corporate and government resources and developed a unified and multifaceted plan to respond to this epidemic. Since that first workshop, they have trained and equipped more than 4,500 church and community leaders in 19 countries. These training programs help lead the effort to prevent new HIV infections among youth and prevent mother-to-child transmission of the disease.

Every day 6,800 people are newly infected with HIV and 5,700 die with AIDS. These statistics proved to Samaritan’s Purse that the church needed to lead the response with both action and compassion. In 2002, a conference called Prescription for Hope was held in Washington D.C. The first workshop to be held was in 2003 in Uganda with 164 people attending. This was a comprehensive HIV/AIDS program designed to mobilize help from different sources.

Samaritan's Purse specializes in meeting critical needs for victims of war, disaster, famine, and epidemics in the world's most troubled regions. We match resources to needs, personnel to situations, capabilities to opportunities. They often work through ministry partners already on the scene of a crisis.

For over 40 years, Samaritan's Purse has aided the world’s poor, sick and suffering. Following Christ’s command, they are an effective means of reaching hurting people in countries around the world with food, medicine, and other assistance in the Name of Jesus Christ.