Seeing God at Work in 2021

In December, a swarm of deadly tornadoes blasted through the central United States. Samaritan’s Purse responded in multiple locations, including devastated Mayfield, Kentucky. Disaster response specialists transfer an earthquake victim to the Samaritan’s Purse Emergency Field Hospital in Les Cayes, Haiti. Edward Graham greets volunteers as they help Louisiana families recover from Hurricane Ida. Teams help remove downed trees, clear debris, tarp roofs, mud out homes, and salvage personal belongings. In South Sudan—where our cleft lip and palate surgical project first started—we mended 120 lips during a special 10—year anniversary trip. We also celebrated our 1,000^th patient to receive surgery from a Samaritan's Purse volunteer cleft lip and palate team. In 2021, Samaritan's Purse delivered 9.1 million of the 188 million Operation Christmas Child shoebox gifts that have been distributed worldwide since 1993. Our surgical subspeciality team helped restore hope for 23 orthopedic patients in desperate need at Nkhoma Hospital in Malawi. Samaritan's Purse distributed over 44,000 food bags (mercados) in Colombia in 2021 to help those struggling to feed their families, particularly single mothers and migrants. Vice President Mike Pence and his wife, Karen, went on a fishing excursion to the Kijik River with military couples during their time at Samaritan Lodge Alaska. Amid the turmoil in the Middle East, Samaritan's Purse is feeding the hungry, treating the sick, and helping families rebuild from war. Samaritan's Purse volunteers helped clean out homes in Washington State where flooded waters damaged more than 500 homes in Whatcom County. Samaritan’s Purse doctors and nurses admit a COVID-19 patient to our Emergency Field Hospital in Jackson, Mississippi. Since 2009, nearly 27 million boys and girls have enrolled in our follow-up discipleship program, The Greatest Journey, with 3.6 million participating just last year! We welcomed 150 military couples to Alaska where 72 participants received Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, 74 were baptized, and 75 couples recommitted their marriages. Our teams distributed emergency food and other relief to thousands of displaced families in Ethiopia’s Tigray region. Leticia Jaimes; her daughter, Daniela; and brother, David, celebrate a new home in the Hope Hill subdivision in La Grange, Texas. Samaritan’s Purse rebuilt and repaired homes in many areas of coastal Texas and in the Houston area after Hurricane Harvey destroyed homes and flooded communities. What began with a mended heart for victor (pictured at center in a blue Children's Heart Project t-shirt), resulted in a vibrant congregation in Uganda. From providing clean water in the aftermath of natural disasters to creating ongoing access for impoverished communities plagued by waterborne illness, our teams do it all in the Name of Jesus Christ. Team Patriot members pray for a homeowner in Lake Charles, Louisiana, where homes and property were damaged in two hurricanes and flooding that struck the coastal city. We provided tools, seeds, and agriculture training for families and communities living in chronic poverty to help them reap a plentiful harvest and boost their income.