Ministry Overview

Thank You

Samaritan’s Purse faithfully shared the Gospel of Jesus Christ this year as we ministered to the brokenhearted, cared for the sick and injured, lifted up the impoverished, and provided emergency aid to victims of disaster and crisis situations.

God hears the cries and prayers of those who call on His Name, and we are humbled that He uses our work as an answer to the prayers of orphaned children, sick patients, traumatized refugees, disaster survivors, and many others.

"The heavens were opened for these people," said a local Colombian pastor who partnered with us to distribute food to hungry Venezuelan migrants. "This ministry I share with Samaritan's Purse has been beautiful because it has blessed many people. I am thankful to the Lord for this beautiful answer to my prayers."

We are deeply grateful for your partnership in ministry and pray this report is an encouraging testimony to the impact of your generosity and prayers.

Bringing Relief When Disasters Hit Home

Our disaster relief volunteers continued answering the call to serve in Jesus’ Name. U.S. Disaster Relief helped 2,379 homeowners through 23 disaster deployments across 12 states. We continued adhering to COVID-19 prevention protocols during these deployments in order to minimize the risk of infection.

Our volunteers shared the hope of Jesus Christ in the aftermath of winter storms in Oregon and Texas; wildfires in California; tornadoes in Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, and Arkansas; a hurricane in Louisiana; and flooding in multiple states.

Volunteers also served this year with our rebuild efforts, which expanded across six locations in five states. In La Grange, Texas, the dedication ceremony at the new home of Leticia Jaimes was especially meaningful as it marked the completion of our Hope Hill rebuild project. "Today is the happiest day of my life. I will remember this forever," Leticia said.

Leticia's home is one of 20 new houses we built for victims of Hurricane Harvey.

We saw God work in powerful ways through the ministry of our volunteers. During our response to historic flooding in Middle Tennessee, homeowner Jeff Klocko prayed to receive Jesus as his personal Lord and Savior. Jeff cried as he shared with the Samaritan’s Purse team about his decision to follow Christ and how his perspective on life had changed. "I've lost everything, but I've got peace inside," he said.

In Houma, Louisiana, our teams ministered to Bradley Giroir, who had evacuated to northern Louisiana with his wife and their six children. The health of their 7-year-old son Holden was the key factor in the family’s decision to evacuate, as Holden is in cancer remission and must be near a medical facility at all times.

While the rest of the family remained up north, Bradley returned home to begin picking up the pieces of the storm’s devastating aftermath. He thanked God for answering his cry for help through Samaritan’s Purse volunteers. "I felt overwhelmed with joy that I didn't need to look for someone to help me do this."

Sharing Good News and Great Joy

This year, your prayers and generous support helped to deliver more than 9.1 million gift-filled shoeboxes to children in 114 countries. More than 3.6 million boys and girls also enrolled in our follow-up discipleship program, The Greatest Journey, and learned how to share the Good News with their family, friends, and neighbors. We praise God that 1.4 million children came to faith in Jesus Christ through the ministry of Operation Christmas Child.

We ministered to 108 unreached people groups across 46 countries, 104,976 unreached children received a shoebox gift, and 23,436 of these children enrolled in The Greatest Journey. Among the unreached people we witnessed to were the Baka in Gabon. Our teams, along with local partners, made the 12-hour journey to three different Baka villages.

Children were delighted to receive their shoebox gifts and to also participate in The Greatest Journey. In one village, even the chief participated in the discipleship lessons. Through the outreach events and the Greatest Journey classes, hundreds of children—as well as adults— prayed to receive Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior.

"YOU SHALL BE WITNESSES TO ME IN JERUSALEM,
AND IN ALL JUDEA AND SAMARIA, AND TO THE END OF THE EARTH"

Meeting Desperate Needs After Haiti Earthquake

In mid-August, a 7.2-magnitude earthquake struck southwestern Haiti causing mass destruction and killing thousands. Within hours, Samaritan's Purse began preparing loads of emergency relief supplies and mobilizing disaster relief specialists to deploy to the Caribbean nation. In the following few days, our DC-8 cargo jet completed airlifts carrying shelter tarp, water filtration units, and an Emergency Field Hospital with surgical capability.

Working with local churches, we distributed items such as solar lights and emergency shelter tarp, and our water, sanitation, and hygiene team set up two community water filtration systems to provide potable water for up to 10,000 people daily.

"This is going to be good for us," said Dano, who lives in an area where 90 percent of homes were destroyed. "We can use the water in every type of way—cooking, drinking, and washing."

Dano's family also received a tarp so that they would have a dry place to sleep at night. He thanked Samaritan's Purse for not forgetting about them. Most importantly, he credited Jesus. "If it wasn’t for Jesus, I wouldn't be standing here right now," he said.

Our Emergency Field Hospital in Les Cayes received more than 200 patients and performed nine surgeries in the first 72 hours of operation. In total, we received more than 3,400 patients.

Helping Afghanistan Evacuees

Samaritan's Purse helped desperate people who fled the crisis in Afghanistan. We deployed our DC-8 cargo jet loaded with 19 tons of medical kits, hygiene kits, blankets, and other items to the region to assist those who had been evacuated from Afghanistan. Our plane also flew in members of our Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART), including medical personnel. We had relief specialists working in five different locations where Afghanistan evacuees were temporarily staying.

In addition, Samaritan's Purse also partnered with organizations on the ground to get men, women, and children out of harm’s way. We sponsored flights that brought hundreds to safety—one of our partners made three trips that brought out 700 people in one day. We also supported the evacuation of 80 missionary families via land routes.

Continuing On the Frontlines of COVID-19

Early in the year, Samaritan's Purse deployed Emergency Field Hospitals to Lenoir, North Carolina, and Los Angeles County, California, to offer high quality care to COVID-19 patients and support to exhausted frontline workers. Later in the year, when Mississippi became the world leader in COVID-19 cases per capita and local hospitals were quickly overwhelmed, we again deployed an Emergency Field Hospital.

"We are motivated to show the love of Christ in the way we love our patients," said Kelly Sites, medical director for the Mississippi response. "We want to show patients compassionate, responsive, and attentive care."

Our first patient discharged in Mississippi was Shalonda Stevenson, who arrived at our facility suffering from severe shortness of breath, dizziness, and lack of balance. Slowly but surely, Shalonda started coming around and her oxygen levels improved.

Shalonda said that the compassionate care she received from our medical team gave her a deeper understanding of God's love. "They don't know me and that’s what love is about: you don’t have to know people to love them or want the best for them," she said. "I wouldn't want to have to live this journey again but I will remember Samaritan's Purse.”

In addition to medical care, Samaritan's Purse also provided emergency food for families struggling to make ends meet because their income source was eliminated due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In Vietnam, where we worked with local partners to provide more than 5.5 metric tons of food to families living in the slums, our teams met 100-year-old Tham. She lives alone in a small shack held together by cracked metal sheets and sleeps on a mat spread out across a few boxes.

Tham used to earn money selling items at a local market, but as social distancing protocols and travel restrictions became the norm, the market closed, leaving Tham without a means of providing for herself and foraging wild plants and snails from the river for food.

She cried when she received the food package from our team. "Thank you, Samaritan’s Purse. No one has cared for me this much," she said.

Offering Hope in the Middle East

Whether displaced or back in their homes, victims of conflict and terrorism in the Middle East are still in desperate need. This year, Samaritan's Purse continued serving tens of thousands of vulnerable people, particularly in Iraq, Syria, and Yemen.

Yemen: More than 2.25 million malnourished Yemeni children and mothers are struggling to find food. The Lord provided an opportunity for Samaritan’s Purse to alleviate some of their suffering through a nutrition program focused on severely malnourished children and their families. More than 280 women and children have now been treated for acute malnutrition.

Syria: In an effort to bring relief to Syrians who have suffered more than a decade of civil war, Samaritan's Purse is supporting a medical clinic serving over 12,000 people in a displacement camp. Through this service, patients have access to medical services such as internal medicine, pediatrics, and obstetrics.

Iraq: Years after being displaced by ISIS, Yazidi families who have returned home continue receiving assistance from Samaritan's Purse. Our teams work with local beekeepers in the Sinjar region, helping more than 200 families learn how to care for bees and produce honey for a steady income.

Sara had no experience with beekeeping when she and her family fled Sinjar Mountain. Through apiary trainings and the provision of beehives and protective equipment, Sara quickly learned how to care for about 5,000 bees. In only her first year, her hives produced over 100 pounds of honey—far beyond what was expected. As she continues improving her skills and product quality, Sara has provided a steady income for her family, restoring a sense of hope as they seek to rebuild after past trauma.