2012 Year in Pictures

This baby was admitted to the Bunj Hospital with a severe case of meningitis. Thankfully, the child made a full recovery under the care of the Samaritan’s Purse medical staff. The hospital, operated by Samaritan’s Purse, is the only surgical referral site in the Doro refugee area of South Sudan, a region that’s home to approximately 90,000 people.

Many in the Nuba Mountains have fled their villages after being targeted by their government, and are hiding in caves in the rugged hills. Tens of thousands have fled Sudan and are living in refugee camps in South Sudan where Samaritan’s Purse is providing aid.

Samaritan’s Purse organized airdrops of life-saving food when the rainy season made access to the Yida refugee camp in South Sudan impossible by truck.

Samaritan’s Purse is coordinating the food distributions at camps in South Sudan that are housing tens of thousands of refugees who have fled violence in Sudan.

Franklin Graham prays for people in the Nuba Mountains during a visit in April. The Nuba people are facing extermination as Sudanese armed forces pound them with bombs, tanks, and ground forces.

Tutu was severely malnourished and in critical condition when he arrived at a South Sudan camp in August. Today, Tutu is healthy and very happy after being treated by our nutrition staff there.

Samaritan’s Purse supports Tansen Mission Hospital in central Nepal by sending volunteer Christian physicians through our medical arm, World Medical Mission. Pictured is Pernilla Ardeby, who helps coordinate the Pediatric Nursing Course at the hospital.

The Village Samaritan was a new program inaugurated in Honduras in ‘12 to combat deaths from preventable and treatable illnesses in areas that lacked access to quality health care. Trained volunteer health care workers go door-to-door to check on their neighbors, prescribing basic medicine such as ibuprofen for fevers, hydration fluids for diarrhea, and antibiotics for infections. Pictured is Katia Licona, 22., who eventually wants to pursue a nursing degree at college. “What inspired me was to help all the people in my community,” she said.

Dr. Jessica Westerholm makes her rounds at Tansen Hospital in Nepal. Jessica is one of several talented medical professionals serving overseas through the Post-Residency Program, which enables young Christian physicians who feel called to medical missions to practice overseas and lay a foundation for a lifetime of service.

Dr. Jim Radcliffe prays for a patient at Kudjip Hosptial in Papua New Guinea. Dr. Radcliffe is the only permanent surgeon at the hospital. World Medical Mission, the medical arm of Samaritan’s Purse, augments the work at Kudjip and other mission facilities by sending out physicians on short-term assignments who are committed to healing body and soul.

People born with cleft lips in South Sudan frequently are shunned by a society that often attributes the condition to sorcery. A medical team sent by Samaritan’s Purse performed surgeries that provided new hope and worth.

7-year-old Ronaldo (with his mother, Martha) received life-saving surgery at a North Carolina hospital in November. Children’s Heart Project arranged transportation and surgery for dozens of children with congenital heart defects in 2012.

These boys in Cambodia are the happy recipients of a clean water program in their village.

Samaritan’s Purse provided clean, safe water for this family in Liberia. Through household water filters, freshwater wells and boreholes, and other programs, we are making this precious resource available in communities around the world.

Operation Heal Our Patriots was a new program in 2012. Service members wounded or injured while serving their country in the war on terror were brought to Alaska, where they enjoyed a week of relaxation and refreshment with their spouses in the majestic wilderness.

Stu and Linda Kuehl, Amanda and Mitchell Seekman, and Nadia and Scooter Gatsch were among the nearly 80 couples to attend Samaritan Lodge Alaska in 2012. “It’s been great,” Scooter said. “These people, I want to talk to them because we all have something in common. We all get why we’re here. We all get what got us here.”

Tim Gustafson’s lower leg was amputated after his Humvee hit an IED in Iraq. But that didn’t keep him from hiking to the top of Tanalian Mountain with his wife, Janice, during his week at Samaritan Lodge Alaska.

Every week from the opening of Samaritan Lodge Alaska in early June until the close of the season in September, Chaplain Jim Fisher (left) led daily marriage enrichment classes that opened eyes and pointed couples to truths from God’s Word. Shawn Aiken was baptized in the chilly waters of Lake Clark at the end of his stay.

Samaritan’s Purse responded when a massive tornado struck Henryville, Indiana, on March 2.

Erinn Ford signs a Bible for a homeowner helped by our U.S. Disaster Response teams in LaPlace, Louisiana, after Hurricane Isaac. Everyone we help receives a Bible signed by the staff and volunteers who work on their house.

Shannon Hardee, a volunteer from Orangeburg, South Carolina, puts the finishing touches on Lucille Harrell’s new home. Samaritan’s Purse rebuilt the house that was destroyed when a twister hit Bertie County, North Carolina.

Steve Gahagan, site program manager for our rebuilding project in Bertie County, North Carolina, leads a dedication ceremony for Johnny Mizelle’s new house. “I feel like I’m finally coming back home now,” Johnny said. Our United States Disaster Response crews also rebuilt homes for storm victims in Joplin, Missouri, and Tuscaloosa, Alabama, in 2012.

Volunteers remove ruined belongings from a home damaged by Hurricane Sandy in Nassau County, New York. Samaritan’s Purse responded in the days immediately following the storm by establishing three bases in New Jersey and one in New York.

Samaritan’s Purse volunteers gives Bobbi Ewing a Bible after working on her home in Somers Point, New Jersey, that was flooded by Hurricane Sandy. The team shoveled out the mud and muck, removed appliances ruined by the salt water, got rid of soggy insulation, and cleaned the backyard—all done for free in Jesus’ Name. “You’ve given me the biggest gift I can imagine,” Bobbi said.

Greta Van Susteren, host of “On The Record” on the Fox News Channel, joined Franklin Graham on a trip to New Jersey to encourage people affected by Hurricane Sandy.

Samaritan’s Purse President Franklin Graham encouraged homeowners affected by Superstorm Sandy during a visit to one of our New Jersey sites. Jane Cheung was worn out physically and emotionally in the aftermath of the storm. When our team arrived she kept hugging everyone and saying, “Thank you for being here.”

Samaritan’s Purse helped hundreds of homeowners in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. Our help goes beyond just physical relief. Our volunteers offer to pray with everyone, letting them know that God cares and hasn’t forgotten them.

Operation Christmas Child shoe box gifts brought joy to Burmese refugee children living in a squatter settlement in Thailand.

Operation Christmas Child provides a way for the Good News to impact mountain villages in Nepal where few have ever heard the Gospel. It also opens doors for Nepali pastors to do follow-up ministry.

Children in the Republic of Georgia read booklets from “The Greatest Journey,” the follow-up program to Operation Christmas Child that teaches children to become faithful followers of Jesus Christ.

Operation Christmas Child surpassed 100 million shoe boxes collected since 1993. Evilyn Pinnow, a 12-year-old girl from Wisconsin, delivered the box representing the milestone to Brenda Valdez, a 5-year-old girl in the Dominican Republic.

Seventy-three Haitian boys and girls, ranging in age from 2 to 16, moved into their new life at the Greta Home and Academy on December 15. The facility, built and supported by Samaritan’s Purse, was dedicated to the glory of God in a ceremony the same day. The home is named after Fox News host Greta Van Susteren for her advocacy on behalf of the people of Haiti. Van Susteren and her husband John Coale, along with Franklin Graham, President of Samaritan’s Purse, spent two days with the children in Léogâne.

In fall 2013 the Greta Academy will expand to include seventh grade and will open to applications for enrollment from parents/children in the community.