Samaritan's Purse

Samaritan's Purse is a Christian relief agency led by Franklin Graham, providing assistance to victims of war, poverty, disease and natural disasters.

Why do we exist?

The story of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:30-37) gives a clear picture of God's desire for us to help those in desperate need wherever we find them. After describing how the Samaritan rescued a hurting man whom others had passed by, Jesus told His hearers, "Go and do likewise."

For over 35 years, Samaritan's Purse has done our utmost to follow Christ's command by going to the aid of the world's poor, sick, and suffering. We 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. This, in turn, earns a hearing for the Gospel, the Good News of eternal life through Jesus Christ.

Our emergency relief programs provide desperately needed assistance to victims of natural disaster, war, disease, and famine. As we offer food, water, and temporary shelter, we meet critical needs and give people a chance to rebuild their lives. Our community development and vocational programs in impoverished villages and neighborhoods help people break the cycle of poverty and give them hope for a better tomorrow. We impact the lives of vulnerable children through educational, feeding, clothing, and shelter programs that let them know they are not forgotten. We provide top quality treatment in the Name of the Great Physician through our medical projects, as well as supplying mission hospitals with much needed equipment and supplies.

As our teams work in crisis areas of the world, people often ask, "Why did you come?" The answer is always the same: "We have come to help you in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ." Our ministry is all about Jesus--first, last, and always. As the Apostle Paul said, "For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake" (2 Corinthians 4:5, NIV).

What have you accomplished?

Samaritan's Purse worked in over 130 nations during 2005, touching the lives of millions of hurting people and meeting physical and spiritual needs in ways that drew multitudes to Jesus Christ. 

Some of our activities included: Our disaster relief units and more than 3,300 volunteers cleaned out 4,800 homes throughout the Gulf Coast, bringing homeowners one step closer to rebuilding their lives; over 3,500 school children in Kentucky participated in our Quality Kids program, which offers health and character lessons as well as weekend opportunities to hear the Gospel; over 7 million shoe box gifts were delivered to impoverished children in over 95 countries; our teams have been busy helping communities build more than 3,000 permanent houses in Indonesia and Sri Lanka to replace those destroyed by the Indian Ocean tsunami; over half a million people were ministered to in Sri Lanka, Indonesia, and India by meeting critical needs (providing 18,000 families with temporary housing, shelter materials, tools, hardware, blankets and cooking supplies; providing emergency food rations to over 50,000 people; operating a water filtering plant supplying clean water to 15,000 people and cleaned wells serving 20,000, as well as distributing millions of water-purification packets; replacing or outfitting over 900 fishing boats).

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