SAMARITAN'S PURSE
"God is wanting you to give Him the despised, the humdrum things in your life - like feet - and let Him make them beautiful."
- Robert Pierce
SAMARITAN'S PURSE
Samaritan’s Purse is a Christian crisis relief and development organization that provides aid to those in need worldwide. Samaritan’s Purse was founded by Robert Pierce in 1970. Pierce had a vision to help those in crisis and with emergency needs. The organization has expanded its reach to more than 100 countries. As a non-governmental organization (NGO), Samaritan’s Purse focuses on a key value of Christianity: charity.
Samaritan’s Purse provided medical care to people in Rwanda and Sudan in the late 1990s and to Iraq and Afghanistan in the early 2000s. Samaritan’s Purse helped reconstruct houses and buildings that were destroyed as a result of hurricanes, tsunamis, and earthquakes. Samaritan’s Purse has also fed countless displaced people in places like Uganda. More recently, Samaritan’s Purse has been one of the only NGOs to provide medical care in Liberia during the Ebola outbreak and help immigrants at the U.S.-Mexico border.
CENTERED ON CHRIST
God’s Word inspired Pierce to form Samaritan’s Purse. After a trip to help suffering children on a Korean island, Pierce wrote in his Bible, "Let my heart be broken with the things that break the heart of God.” This prayer led to the foundation and mission of Samaritan’s Purse.
Additionally, the very name and mission of Samaritan’s Purse comes from the story of the Good Samaritan that Jesus taught. Luke 10:30-37 describes a Samaritan that goes out of his way to help a man who was suffering while others just passed him by. The Bible states that after Jesus told this story to His disciples, He instructed them to do likewise. Through food, medicine, and other means, Samaritan’s Purse seeks to follow Jesus’s instruction in helping hurting people all over the world in the name of Jesus. Samaritan’s Purse not only meets the physical needs of people they serve, but also the organization spreads the gospel to meet their spiritual needs as well.
One of Samaritan’s Purse’s most famous projects is “Operation Christmas Child.” Every year, Samaritan’s Purse connects with various organizations and churches to meet physical needs and share the gospel with children in need. The shoeboxes are packed with toys, personal hygiene items, and school supplies and sent to children affected by war, poverty, and natural disaster. Through Operation Christmas Child, millions of children each year are taught the Good News of Jesus, and lives and communities are transformed.
SHARE ON
