Learn more about this project that has touched families in some of the most remote regions of the world.
Cleft lip and palate can be easily repaired in many nations, but the required surgeries often are not available in developing countries with inadequate healthcare. Children born with these medical issues often face a lifetime of ridicule and discrimination, especially in areas that associate the health condition with witchcraft or being “cursed.”
That’s why Samaritan’s Purse sends experienced medical teams to impoverished areas to perform numerous cleft lip surgeries over a one- to two-week span. This year alone, more than 70 medical professionals in total served with us on teams that traveled to South Sudan twice, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Liberia (campaign underway through Dec. 15). With 280 surgeries completed so far in 2024 and an expected end-of-year tally around 300, we thank God for what He’s doing through this project!
A special part of the ministry involves air transportation. Samaritan’s Purse Mission Aviation Services teams bring in the majority of patients, most of whom live in extremely remote areas. Our aircraft significantly expand the reach of the Cleft Lip Program and allow us to serve those in greatest need.
WATCH THE VIDEO AT TOP TO SEE OUR TEAM IN ACTION IN SOUTH SUDAN.
Not only do our teams bring physical healing in Jesus’ Name, we help meet spiritual needs as well. Our teams work with local chaplains to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with our patients. The Jesus film is often shown at events and audio Bibles are distributed. In addition, in South Sudan, a ministry coordinator works year-round to follow up with and link beneficiaries with local churches.
The Samaritan’s Purse Cleft Lip Program started in 2011 and has treated patients in South Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, Bolivia, Guatemala, Myanmar, and the Middle East. To date, nearly 2,000 surgeries have been completed through the program since its inception.
Please continue to pray for this outreach in 2025.
YOMINA WAS TREATED AS AN OUTCAST because she was born with a cleft lip. Her family refused to send her to school, and her husband abandoned her. Yet God loved her and connected her with a Samaritan’s Purse team that came to South Sudan to provide life-changing cleft lip and palate surgeries. Not only does Yomina now have a new smile, but she also has “a new heart, and a new spirit” (Ezekiel 36:26) after hearing the Gospel from a chaplain and accepting Jesus as her Savior. She has forgiven those who hurt her and is teaching her children that God loves them “with an everlasting love” (Jeremiah 31:3). For $25, you can help people like Yomina receive a surgery that would not have been possible in their impoverished communities.
