Hearts Mended,Souls Saved

Dear Friend,

In just a few weeks, I will be in Ukraine to deliver the 200 millionth shoebox gift for Operation Christmas Child. Please pray for Samaritan's Purse teams working on the frontlines to feed and care for victims of the war, and for the shivering multitudes who are struggling to survive this winter.

Recently I was in Mongolia, where I had the blessing to be with dozens of grateful children—and some who are now grown up—who are thriving today because of the Samaritan's Purse Children's Heart Project.

Several of our former patients are now pursuing medical careers so they can better serve their nation and bless the next generation. One of those was Miigaa, who is now a young doctor. She was 14 years old when her doctor diagnosed a hole in her heart and broke the news that there was no surgeon in Mongolia who could provide the surgery she needed. "There was no hope in the whole country," she said. "I thought I was going to die soon."

Praise God that her family learned that Samaritan's Purse could provide the specialized care she desperately needed. After she recovered, she attended one of the Heart Camps that we sponsor for former patients, where she heard the Gospel and gave her heart to Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior.

Miigaa has completed medical school and is pursuing a career as a cardiologist, so someday she might provide the life-saving care that hundreds of children in Mongolia need. Praise the Lord for using a young girl born with a heart defect as His agent to bring physical healing and the hope of the Gospel to those in distress.

Samaritan's Purse launched the Children's Heart Project 25 years ago during the Balkan war. We started in Bosnia in 1997 and expanded into Kosovo in 2001. Since then, the program has grown to help boys and girls from a number of countries where pediatric heart surgery is not available. Samaritan's Purse brings them to North America, and we pay for travel, medical tests, and many other costs. We also find interpreters and host families so the children and an escort, usually a parent, have a place to stay while the children recover. We work with partners who donate the cost of surgery and hospitalization.

Through the years, the Lord has used the Children's Heart Project to provide medical care for nearly 1,500 children. Many of them, like Miigaa, have surrendered their hearts to Jesus and have become ambassadors for Christ where they live. This year, we are looking to expand the Children's Heart Project into northern Iraq.

In Mongolia, a man named Bat-Ulzii who is now a discipleship pastor, came to faith in Christ at age 13 when he was one of our patients. "I used to think that I only needed heart surgery," he said, "but I realized there is a big hole in our souls that needs to be filled. The Lord is the one who fills the hole."

ON THE GROUND: On July 2, 2020, Samaritan's Purse safely returned nine children to Mongolia after they received life-changing heart surgery through Children’s Heart Project. These children and their mothers came to the United States in early February, but their visits were drastically altered because of the introduction of COVID-19. In this episode, Kristy Graham joins these mothers, children, host families and translators to learn how these additional months in the U.S. changed their lives.