About Samaritan’s Purse and what I will be doing

As Ken Isaacs, the Vice President of Programs And Government Relations at Samaritan’s Purse, likes to say, “The quality of our work is a platform for our witness.” I love this quote for a variety of reasons; including that it is representative of Samaritan’s Purse’s mission and my mindset while I travel to Congo. Samaritan’s Purse is a Christian relief organization that intervenes in regions of the world hit hardest by disasters. Depending on the region’s ability to recover from the event, Samaritan’s Purse will stay long-term to help build the capacity of the affected region. We emphasize providing the highest quality of service possible to demonstrate our genuine concern for the world’s suffering. In doing so, we hope to provide a living testimony to the message of the Gospel and how God has changed our lives.

In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), I will be assisting with the management of agricultural training and maternal and child health education programs. I will be working in the northeast part of the country, a region heavily affected by the violence inflicted by the Lord’s Resistance Army and two civil wars within the last twenty years.

Below is a link to a video clip describing Samaritan’s Purse’s involvement with the Ebola crisis in Liberia. I believe that the clip is a fairly good representation of Samaritan’s Purse’s work overseas. One thing not mentioned in the clip: Dr. Kent Brantly was the only one of SP’s 320 employees in Liberia who was infected with the Ebola virus. Considering that the virus infected nearly 900 healthcare workers in the region (killing over 500 of them, including one of the top Liberian Infectious Disease doctors), the fact that everyone from SP was spared is nothing short of a miracle. http://video.samaritanspurse.org/liberia-vs-ebola/

Here is a clip of side project Samaritan’s Purse is doing to train pastors in the region I will be moving to. Unfortunately, there are no videos pertaining to the food distribution program I will be assisting in. http://video.samaritanspurse.org/revenge-meets-mercy/

Que Dieu vous bénisse,

Bruce