Samaritan's Purse
Samaritan's Purse is a non-denominational, evangelical Christian, worldwide humanitarian organization that provides spiritual and physical aid to people who are victims of war, natural disaster, poverty, or disease. Aside from helping people with their physical needs like food, medicine, water, and temporary shelter, Samaritan's Purse also aids people in their spiritual needs through sharing the Gospel and the Good News of eternal life with Jesus Christ.
Samaritan's Purse also holds vocational and educational programs for community development to help people break the cycle of poverty in their lives. This helps impoverished villages and people have hope that there is a better tomorrow. Children are also given importance with their educational, clothing, feeding, and shelter programs to make way for a brighter future for them. Samaritan's Purse also holds medical projects providing first-class treatment to victims of disease as well as supplying their mission hospitals with needed supplies and equipment.
The organization's name was based on the Biblical story on the Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:30-37), where Jesus taught people on the values of loving your neighbor as you love yourself and helping others who are in need. Since 1970, Samaritan's Purse has been doing their utmost in following this example as Jesus told his disciples to do the same as the Samaritan has done. Samaritan's Purse has been an effective means of reaching out to needy people all over the world.
The president of the organization is Franklin Graham, son of renowned Christian evangelist Billy Graham. Samaritan's Purse currently holds its headquarters in Boone, North Carolina with affiliate offices in Netherlands, Australia, Ireland, Canada, Hong Kong, Germany and the United Kingdom. It also has additional US facilities in North Wilkesboro and Charlotte, N.C. Samaritan's Purse currently works in more than 100 countries all over the world, providing help for people to fulfill their physical and spiritual needs.
Purpose
Samaritan's Purse is an evangelical Christian, worldwide humanitarian organization that aids the less fortunate people from all over the world who are victims of poverty, war, natural disaster famine, or disease through various programs which do not only provide physical relief but cater to their spiritual needs as well.
Samaritan's Purse lives by the following its mission statement that pushes the need to serve the ones who are serving the needy. Samaritan's Purse has been providing physical and spiritual aid to people all around the world who are under pain. Samaritan's Purse has been helping people that have been affected by poverty, war, disease, natural disasters and famine. Samaritan's Purse is a worldwide organization and serves the Church to advertise the Gospel of that stated by the Lord, Jesus Christ.
Samaritan's Purse lives out on Christ's command of helping out the needy, sick, and suffering people of the world as he has taught his disciples through the Parable of the Good Samaritan. Since 1970, Samaritan's Purse has been helping people not only in their physical needs of food, clothing, medicine, and shelter but also aids them in their spiritual development by sharing God's love with them, letting them know that they are special and that Jesus died and will rise again for them.
Samaritan's Purse seeks to be specialized in providing emergency relief, food, water, clothing, shelter, and medical care to victims of war, famine and other natural disasters. They also specialize in public health awareness, HIV/AIDS campaigns, and supplying medical care to underprivileged countries through their World Medical Mission project. They also have community development, livestock, and livelihood projects to help impoverished villages break the cycle of poverty in their lives. They also have this annual project called the Operation Christmas Child to deliver shoebox gifts to more than 8 million poor children in more than 100 countries each year.
History
Samaritan's Purse was established in 1970 by Robert (Bob) Pierce with a goal and vision “to meet emergency needs in crisis areas through existing evangelical mission agencies and national churches.” Bob Pierce is also well known to have founded the international charity organization World Vision in 1950. Bob Pierce's vision for Samaritan's Purse was said to have started when he visited China after World War II where he saw courageous Christians living among orphans and lepers and serving them in order to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ. Since then, Pierce has dedicated himself to support other Christians who are helping the poor and suffering people of the world.
In 1973, Bob Pierce met an adventurous young student who had a growing heart for the missions and also happens to be the son of renowned Christian evangelist Billy Graham. Franklin Graham and Bob Pierce met in the summer of 1973 and both shared their passions for charitable missions. Together, they made several trips visiting missionary partners and relief projects across Asia and in many other parts of the world, where Franklin had a life changing experience on a tour to the world's neediest mission fields. This is where he felt the need for people to know God and really got a heart for the missions. When Bob Pierce died of leukemia in 1978, Franklin Graham eventually took over a year later and became Samaritan's Purse President and Chairman of the Board starting 1979.
The Lord has indeed blessed the Samaritan's Purse organization under the leadership of Franklin Graham, as it has seen explosive growth. Samaritan's Purse along with funding mission partners also implemented a number of large scale relief projects to victims of war and natural disasters such as the conflicts in Somalia, Rwanda, Sudan, and Kosovo in the 1990s, the El Salvador earthquakes in 2002, Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.
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