Bind up their wounds

Letter from Franklin Graham

Dear Friend,

The Bible describes Luke as “the beloved physician” (Colossians 4:14). Luke brings a doctor’s perspective to his Gospel, including the Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37). The robbery victim, left “half-dead” along the Jericho Road, was saved by prompt medical attention and ongoing care.

That’s the model for much of our emergency medical work at Samaritan’s Purse. We fly immediately into disaster zones with doctors and Emergency Field Hospitals that we can set up in a matter of hours, providing life-saving care in places where hospitals have been wiped out. Following a 7.7 magnitude earthquake in Myanmar last March, we deployed a hospital from our Calgary warehouse halfway around the world to care for the injured and sick.

Our hospital in Myanmar included two operating rooms, an emergency room, in-patient wards, a pharmacy, and a laboratory. We also train and equip teams to operate mobile medical clinics in hard-to-reach locations. Medical missions have always been a vital part of the ministry of Samaritan’s Purse. In the 1970s I helped organize World Medical Mission, which continues to send hundreds of volunteers overseas to support missionary hospitals. Other medical projects offer clinic services to families with little access to healthcare, like those you can read below.

Our emergency medical program takes this to another level. It requires cargo jets, military-style preparation, and dedicated personnel who train for unimaginable challenges. It’s so encouraging to see how our medical teams are serving in Jamaica after Hurricane Melissa.

The Parable of the Good Samaritan is not just about going out of our way to bind a man’s wounds. It was prompted by a question about eternal life: “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” (Luke 10:25). Jesus responded: “‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’ and ‘your neighbor as yourself’” (10:27).

That level of good-neighbor compassion drives everything we do at Samaritan’s Purse. As we go into the gutters of the world to save lives and relieve suffering, we trust that God will use our medical ministry to open doors for our team to share the eternal hope we have in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Thank you for your prayers and support for this ministry. Your gifts enable us to support ongoing medical projects worldwide and have another field hospital ready to airlift the next time we’re needed in crisis.

Sincerely,

Franklin Graham

A Life-Saving Clinic for Refugee Moms and Children

Gunfire often rained down outside Hawa’s* home, flooding her heart and mind with fear. The South Sudanese mother was pregnant, with no one but her young son at her side.

Living in war-torn Sudan at the time, she survived a dangerous journey to a different nation in North Africa.* There, the bullets finally stopped. But Hawa was physically, emotionally, and spiritually broken. She now faced discrimination, hunger, and hopelessness as a refugee.

Caring for her children was next to impossible. Deeply traumatized, she began to resent her newborn daughter, Mariam.* “I can’t stand her,” Hawa confessed to staff at our local partner’s Well-Child Clinic—a safe place where she could share her struggles. “I feel like I want to harm her!” Recognizing the danger of Hawa’s situation, staff immediately connected her to the clinic’s psychologist for mental health support.

Baby Mariam was severely malnourished. The child faced lifelong stunting unless treatment could be swift. To help improve Mariam’s condition, Hawa was taught how to breastfeed, provided with nutritious food, and educated about healthy eating and infant wellness.

These are rare, life-saving interventions for refugees in this region. We’re grateful to God for your generosity, which provides for them in Jesus’ Name.

This new year marks two decades of Samaritan’s Purse working with our partner in North Africa to operate the Well-Child Clinic. This facility provides specialized healthcare services and nutritional support to thousands of displaced mothers and their children each year. Moms like Hawa can receive malnutrition assessments, lab tests, medications, vitamins, referrals, and food assistance, and they can participate in workshops on health and hygiene.

On Mariam’s first birthday, after many appointments at the clinic, there was much to celebrate! She weighed a healthy 20 pounds and brought joy to Hawa’s heart.

“Hawa learned how to care for her baby and began to feel that her daughter is a blessing from God, not a heavy burden,” reported our partner. “Her feelings changed from rejection to love and nurturing.”

“The clinic didn’t just help me,” said Hawa. “It made me feel that my daughter was born again.” God moved powerfully through the medical project, and she chose to put her faith in Jesus Christ and started going to church.

“Jesus gives me new hope,” said Hawa. “I used to feel that I was alone, but here I felt that Jesus is with me and will not leave me.”

Thank you for supporting and praying for Samaritan’s Purse medical projects like this around the world. You’re helping people who are often forgotten know they are precious in the eyes of God, who “heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds” (Psalm 147:3).