In June, I traveled to China and visited my mother’s birthplace. Along with many beloved Chinese friends who remembered her, we commemorated what would have been Mama’s 90th birthday.

Throughout her life, my mother often ministered to orphans, widows, and others who found themselves alone in the midst of crises. She once wrote: One of the loveliest words in the Bible is compassion. God cares about broken lives, broken people. Lovingly, painstakingly, He puts them back together and restores souls. Opportunities to help others allow us to show genuine love, to earn the right to be heard, so that we can tell them about Jesus.

I thank God for all those who faithfully support the work of Samaritan’s Purse in reaching out to those who have experienced hardship and brokenness. Especially vulnerable are women and children. Over and over in the Bible, God makes Himself known as the One who watches over orphans and widows. “A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in His holy dwelling” (Psalm 68:5, NIV).

Because He cares so much for those who have lost husbands or fathers, He commands us to care for them as well. “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress” (James 1:27a).

Helping orphans and widows is an important part of the ministry of Samaritan’s Purse. We support orphanages and children’s homes in over 20 countries through our Samaritan Children’s Fund. Many of our agricultural and vocational projects are specifically designed to help widows earn a living and feed their families. Across Asia, Africa, and Latin America, we have trained hundreds of church teams to care for wives and children left desolate by AIDS.

Orphans and widows are also a top priority when our teams respond to wars, disasters, and other crisis situations worldwide. And our Operation Christmas Child project has made it possible for countless orphans around the globe to receive shoe box gifts and learn of the Savior’s love through our Gospel literature and discipleship program.

Samaritan’s Purse works with local ministry partners that we know will be bold for the Gospel. One of our partners is the House of Grace, located in a province of Thailand where the incidence of HIV/AIDS is one of the highest in that nation. It’s common in this area for community members to shun anyone who has had contact with this dreaded disease. Here, a young Thai pastor, his wife, and a small staff provide a loving home for about 50 orphans, over a third of them HIV positive. They also offer temporary refuge to widows who have lost their husbands to AIDS. Through this compassionate ministry, many precious souls have experienced God’s saving grace through Jesus Christ.

Through all of these ministries, we reach out to the most helpless of women and children with the unfailing love of Jesus Christ and the transforming power of the Gospel. In this newsletter, I want to share with you just a few of the testimonies we have heard from the field.

Finding “Goodness” in the Desert
Khair and her six young children live in a Bedouin tent in the desert of Jordan, the same harsh land where the people of Israel once survived on manna from heaven. Her name means “goodness” in Arabic, but her family has been destitute and hungry since her husband died in a car accident two years ago.

My good friend Aileen Coleman, co-founder of the Annoor Sanatorium in Mafraq, Jordan, heard of this widow’s plight. As a child, Khair had been a patient at the hospital. These many years later, she needed our love and support more than ever before.

Aileen visited Khair’s tent and began sending monthly assistance provided by Samaritan’s Purse. This includes paying fees for books and uniforms for the three school-aged children, basic food supplies, clothing, and firewood in the winter.

Through these simple acts of kindness, God opened this widow’s heart to the Gospel, and Khair now knows she and her children have a heavenly Father who will never leave them or forsake them. “She has faith in Christ and believes that He is good and will take care of them,” Aileen said.

Delivered from Witchcraft
La Casa de Mi Padre (“My Father’s House”) ministers to children in El Salvador who are not orphans in the traditional sense but have been separated from their family by abuse, abandonment, or other extreme circumstances. It is among dozens of children’s homes around the world supported through our Samaritan Children’s Fund.

Police brought Luna and Marcos (not their real names) to La Casa after their alcoholic father died and their mentally ill mother began to practice witchcraft. The children thrived in the loving environment, and both accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

More than anything, Luna and Marcos wanted to see their mother saved. They invited her to church, persisted in prayer, and read the Bible to her. Eventually, she gave her heart to the Lord, and her life was transformed to the point that she can now hold a job.

Luna and Marcos have also witnessed to their uncles, cousins, and grandmother. As a worker at La Casa said, “God is using them to bring their entire family together.”

“I Found God through These Hard Times”
Drita’s husband and brother-in-law were killed during the brutal ethnic cleansing of Kosovo in 1999. Their home was burned too, forcing Drita and her five children to live in a dilapidated house for four years until Samaritan’s Purse helped provide a two-bedroom home.

Tormented by memories of the war, Drita suffered terrible dreams and excruciating headaches. Our staff in Kosovo prayed for Drita and ministered to her family’s many emotional and spiritual needs. Her nightmares subsided, and she became involved in our widows’ vocational projects and Bible study/support groups. Since then, she and three of her children have committed their hearts to the Lord.

“Although my days since the war have been hard, I found God through these hard times,” Drita said. “Even if I could change the events of the war, I wouldn’t trade having my husband back and not having God. My husband and I missed out so much on not knowing God.”

These stories are just a small sample of the extraordinary things God is doing through the faithful prayers and sacrificial giving of people like you. Thank you for your support, and may God bless you.

Sincerely,

Franklin Graham
President
Samaritan's Purse

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