Samaritan's Purse International Relief
Samaritan's Purse is a non-denominational
evangelical Christian
humanitarian organization that works worldwide to assist people in
physical need alongside their Christian missionary work. The
organization’s president is
Franklin Graham, son of Christian evangelist
Billy Graham. The name of the organization is based on the
New Testament Parable of the Good Samaritan, in which
Jesus uses a
parable to teach people the
second great commandment - how to "love thy neighbour as thyself".
Samaritan’s Purse works in more than 100 countries around the world.
International headquarters are in Boone, North Carolina, with additional
U.S. facilities in Charlotte and North Wilkesboro, N.C. Affiliate
offices are in Australia, Canada, Germany, Ireland, Hong Kong,
Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. Field offices are located in some
20 countries across five continents.
The organization's mission statement states that the organization
seeks to meet the spiritual and physical needs of people suffering from
war, poverty, disaster, disease, and famine, with the purpose of global
missionary work attendant on humanitarian aid. The organization aims at
service for the
church worldwide to propagate "the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ".
[2]
Samaritan’s Purse seeks to specialize in emergency relief, shelter,
water and sanitation, food and nutrition, medical care and public
health, HIV/AIDS, and community-based livestock and livelihood projects.
[edit] Ongoing programs
In addition to responding to emergencies worldwide, Samaritan’s Purse includes several ongoing
ministries.
•
Operation Christmas Child is a 'global Christmas gift
exchange' project operated by Samaritan's Purse. Each November it opens
thousands of locations, typically at churches or schools, to collect
shoeboxes filled with toys, school supplies, personal items, and other
gifts. These boxes are then distributed as Christmas gifts, accompanied
by Christian literature.
[3] From 1993 through 2008, some 69 million gift boxes have been handed out in more than 130 countries.
•
Disaster Relief responds to emergency situations. In the
United States and Canada, Samaritan’s Purse mobilizes teams of
volunteers to repair houses damaged by natural disasters. The
organization has four tractor-trailer units loaded with emergency
supplies and equipment. Each can serve as a self-contained base in a
disaster zone.
•
World Medical Mission, the medical arm of Samaritan’s Purse,
was founded in 1977 by brothers Dr. Richard Furman and Dr. Lowell
Furman to enable doctors to serve short-term assignments at overwhelmed
missionary hospitals. The Post-Residency Program supports physicians as
they serve two-year terms in mission hospitals and consider becoming
career missionaries. World Medical Mission also operates a warehouse
that ships equipment and supplies to mission hospitals and provides them
with technical support.
•
Children’s Heart Project provides surgery for children born
with heart defects in countries where proper care is not available.
Children are brought to North America, where services are donated by
hospitals, surgeons, and host families and churches..
•
HIV/AIDS Projects mobilize private, church, corporate, and
government resources to respond to the AIDS pandemic. In partnership
with the President’s Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief, Samaritan’s Purse
is working in East Africa with education about the disease and
abstinence-based prevention programs.
•
Turn on the Tap is a campaign to provide safe drinking water
in the developing world. Samaritan’s Purse-Canada holds the license to
build BioSand Water Filters, which can provide a family with a perpetual
source of safe drinking water. Samaritan’s Purse also drills and
repairs wells, sets up large-scale filters in disaster zones, and helps
to educate communities in hygiene and sanitation.