Health and Medical Ministries

Thank You

Samaritan's Purse medical teams continued treating patients in Emergency Field Hospitals, caring for migrants and displaced families, and supporting mission hospitals worldwide with medical staff and equipment. We also remained on the frontlines of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic by providing surge capacity to overwhelmed hospitals and equipping healthcare personnel. Most importantly, the Lord used our health and medical ministries to create opportunities to share the Gospel and to lead hurting people to saving faith in Jesus Christ.

Emergency Field Hospitals Deploy to Crisis Areas

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. Both facilities served as non-intensive units for those who had tested positive for COVID-19.

In Lenoir, we treated nearly 90 patients at our 30-bed hospital, which assisted six regional healthcare systems from a central location at Caldwell UNC Health Care.

At the time our DC-8 cargo jet airlifted the Emergency Field Hospital to California, Los Angeles County had already reported more than 1.8 million COVID-19 cases. Our teams set up the mobile facility at Antelope Valley Hospital and cared for more than 160 patients.

“Help from Samaritan’s Purse was tremendously on time,” said Ed Mirzabegian, Antelope Valley Hospital CEO. “Staff were tired; we had many nurses and frontline workers who were out sick because of COVID. When Samaritan’s Purse started here, it put a calmness to everything.”

In August, Mississippi became the world leader in COVID-19 cases per capita and local hospitals were quickly overwhelmed. Samaritan’s Purse constructed a 32-bed Emergency Field Hospital at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson that included an intensive care unit. Our doctors and nurses provided around-the-clock care to worried and weary patients, addressing physical needs with high quality healthcare while reminding them that they are not alone or forgotten.

“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.”

In the same week that we deployed to Mississippi, a 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck Haiti’s southern peninsula and killed nearly 2,000 people. Countless others were left with life-threatening injuries.

Samaritan’s Purse quickly delivered an Emergency Field Hospital aboard our DC-8 cargo jet to the hard-hit area of Les Cayes. The mobile trauma unit included an operating theater pharmacy, laboratory, and three patient wards.

In the first 72 hours of operation, our medical team received more than 200 patients and performed nine surgeries. In total, we received 3,449 patients during this response.

Among the patients we cared for was 11-month-old Adonnia, who had deep wounds on his face and a swollen leg that prevented him from walking. Our team confirmed that Adonnia’s tibia was broken and that the cuts on his face were becoming infected. They cleaned his wounds and splinted his leg.

“I told the medical team a thousand thank you’s because I couldn’t do it on my own,” said his mother Rosenine. “I’m happy that you are here.”

Medical Missions Around the World

Samaritan's Purse helped meet the medical needs of suffering families through the work of our 17 international field offices:

Thousands of Venezuelan migrants endure harsh circumstances as they travel, often by foot, in search of better lives and opportunities across the Colombian border. Samaritan’s Purse operated two mobile medical units in rural areas along migrant routes in Colombia to offer outpatient services, medications, and nutrition consultations.

We supported the Good Samaritan Clinic in Myanmar that provides primary health care and maternity services. When the country went under martial law in February, many governmentemployed doctors left their work and public health services shut down. As a result, the clinic was serving more than three times the previous number of patients.

Samaritan’s Purse supported a medical clinic in a Syrian displacement camp that serves more than 12,000 people. The clinic offers free consultations and transportation to a nearby hospital so that families have more funds to use for critical items such as food and clothing.

As Yemeni families continued to struggle to find food, more than 2.25 million children and mothers became malnourished. Samaritan’s Purse helped to meet this need through a nutrition program focused on severely malnourished children and their families.

Life-saving Heart Surgery for Leo

In Santa Cruz, Bolivia, as young Leo struggled with a congenital heart defect, his mother Jean Carla was overwhelmed by the task of caring for her son. Determined to find a solution, Jean Carla took a step of faith and participated in the Samaritan’s Purse Children’s Heart Project.

After traveling to Columbus, Ohio, for Leo’s procedure, Jean Carla and their host, Tracie, quickly formed a friendship. Tracie shared the Gospel with Jean Carla, praying and guiding her as she gave her heart and life to Jesus Christ.

Leo’s heart surgery was a success, and he quickly experienced an increase in energy and an improved disposition as he recovered. Jean Carla was amazed by the improvement and could hardly believe the miracle she had witnessed in her son. Now, she can dream of a future for Leo, and rejoice that God provided an opportunity for his healing.

Along with Leo, 22 other children were brought to North America this year to receive life-saving surgeries. Since 1997, Children’s Heart Project has coordinated more than 1,400 operations and ministered to countless families, from which a number of individuals have made the decision to follow Jesus Christ.

Restoring Faith’s Future

At age 7, Faith had already endured extensive medical repairs for a severe facial deformity caused by her brain and spinal cord not fully developing in the womb. As an infant, she went to Toronto, Canada, where surgeons removed excess brain matter and repaired bony defects, yet she still had abnormal features.

At home in Kenya, Faith’s deformity was interpreted as the result of a curse and her family endured the consequences of this misconception—exile from their home village and inability to find work. Faith’s family knew their hardships would only continue to increase.

The family rejoiced when they met Dr. Justin Daggett, a plastic surgeon serving at Kijabe Hospital through our Post-Residency Program. Although Dr. Daggett recommended that Faith return to Toronto for another operation, her family wanted her to be treated in Kenya. Conducting the operation with limited resources at Kijabe Hospital would be difficult, and the surgery Faith needed came with the risk of blindness and even death. Yet, after much prayer, Dr. Daggett placed his trust in God and did the operation.

With the help of two other surgeons in the Post-Residency Program, Dr. Daggett completed Faith’s operation in about 18 hours. Faith has healed beautifully, even retaining vision in both of her eyes. Faith and her family now have hope for a much brighter future.

In 2021, about 370 volunteer medical professionals and 34 Post Resident doctors served in mission hospitals around the world, helping alleviate suffering and bringing the eternal hope of Jesus Christ to communities in desperate need.