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Samaritan's Purse

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Not to be confused with Samaritans (charity).

Samaritan's Purse
Founded1970
FounderBob Pierce
TypeFaith-based
FocusCrisis relief & development
Location
Area served
International
MethodDirect aid
Program funding
President
Franklin Graham
Revenue> US$300,000,000[1]
Websitewww.samaritanspurse.org

Samaritan's Purse is an evangelical Christian humanitarian aid organization that provides aid to people in physical need as a key part of its Christian missionary work. The organization's president is Franklin Graham, son of Christian evangelist Billy Graham. The name of the organization is derived from the New Testament Parable of the Good Samaritan.

Samaritan's Purse works in more than 100 countries. Their international headquarters are in Boone, North Carolina, with additional U.S. facilities in Charlotte and North Wilkesboro, N.C. Affiliate offices are in Australia, Canada, Germany, Ireland, Hong Kong, Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. Field offices are also located in around 20 countries across five continents.

The organization has been criticized for requiring recipients of aid to participate in religious activities, for Graham's controversial statements, and for his compensation.

History

Bob Pierce founded Samaritan's Purse in 1970 with a vision "to meet emergency needs in crisis areas through existing evangelical mission agencies and national churches." Pierce had previously founded World Vision in 1950.[2]

Franklin Graham met Pierce in 1973, and they made several trips together to visit relief projects and missionary partners in Asia and elsewhere. Graham became president of Samaritan's Purse in 1979 following Pierce's death in 1978.[3]

As the organization grew, Samaritan's Purse not only funded mission partners but also began to develop its own large-scale relief projects:[citation needed]

Current activities

The organisation's medical mission in Liberia, West Africa, was one of only two medical NGOs active in Liberia during the beginning of the 2014 Ebola outbreak. Samaritan's Purse and SIM USA both have been actively engaged in treating the recent outbreak of Ebola hemorrhagic fever in Liberia. On August 1, 2014, the organisation announced that it was evacuating 60 nonessential personnel from Liberia. Dr. Kent Brantly, a Texas-based doctor working for the organisation, was the first U.S. Citizen to contract the Ebola virus in Liberia while treating the disease. He arrived in the United States on Saturday, August 2, and was treated and subsequently released after nearly three weeks in a special isolation unit of Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia.[4][5][6][7] The organization recorded their mission in Liberia in the documentary Facing Darkness.[8] Samaritan's Purse also operates aircraft in support of its humanitarian relief efforts including a Douglas DC-8-72CF jetliner and a converted Douglas DC-3 featuring turboprop engines.[9]

According to NBC News and Gothamist, volunteers are required to adhere to a statement of faith, agreeing to a definition of marriage as "exclusively the union of one genetic male and one genetic female" and acknowledging that "[God] will banish the unrighteous to everlasting punishment in hell."[10][11][12]

Ongoing programs

Samaritan's Purse includes several ongoing ministries.

  • Disaster Relief responds to emergency situations.
  • World Medical Mission, the medical arm of Samaritan's Purse, was founded in 1977 by brothers Dr. Richard Furman and Dr. Lowell Furman to enable doctors to serve short-term assignments at overwhelmed missionary hospitals. As of 30 March 2020, Samaritan's Purse partnered with Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City to create a field hospital in Central Park to treat patients afflicted with the COVID-19.
  • Children's Heart Project provides surgery for children born with heart defects in countries where proper care is not available.
  • Turn on the Tap is a campaign to provide safe drinking water in the developing world.

Operation Christmas Child

See also: Child evangelism movement

Operation Christmas Child was created in 1990 by Dave Cooke and his wife Gill for children in Romania. Each November thousands of churches, schools, groups and individual donors prepare and collect shoeboxes filled with toys, school supplies, personal items, and other small gifts. A booklet of bible stories is often distributed alongside the shoebox gifts which are given to children based on need alone, regardless of their faith. These boxes are then distributed overseas by volunteers.[13] As of April 2015, over 124 million boxes have been delivered.[14]

The program uses "follow-up" evangelism[15][16][17] with pamphlets of bible stories that are given to families that receive the boxes,[18] and an organizer for Operation Christmas Child says his goal every day is to "expand [God's] kingdom through Operation Christmas Child."[19]

The follow-up evangelism program of Operation Christmas Child is called "The Greatest Journey". It is a 12-week discipleship program for children who receive shoebox gifts.[20]

Operation Christmas Child in the US has over 9,000 year round volunteers and over 100,000 short term volunteers.

The Operation Christmas Child project has been criticized in several countries, most notably in the UK,[21][22] but also in Ireland,[23] India[24] and Canada.[25][by whom?][clarification needed] In the United States, Ibrahim Hooper of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, has stated that such religion-and-relief groups are "using their position of power to try to persuade people to leave their faith."[26] In 2003, The British supermarket chain Co-op and South Wales Fire Service both suspended their support for the project after numerous complaints about its religious connections.[27][28] Samaritan's Purse responded by stating that Christian literature was only handed out where it was deemed appropriate.[28]

In October 2014, Samaritan's Purse threatened legal action in the UK against the posters of online comments on the discussion forum Mumsnet. The resultant letters prompted one of the busiest discussions on the site's "Am I being Unreasonable" forum.[29]

Financials

In the fiscal year ending December 2012, Samaritan's Purse generated over $376 million. Of that amount, 89.3 percent goes directly to projects; 4.3 percent is used for administrative support; and 6.2 percent is spent on fundraising. The organization has received a 4 star rating (out of 4 stars) from the monitoring organization Charity Navigator.[30] The "Consolidated Statement of Activities" section of the organization's 2014 accountant's report lists the total revenue as $520.4 million.[31]

2011 lawsuit

In 2010, Flavia Wagner and two Sudanese men were kidnapped while working for Samaritan's Purse in Sudan. The two men were released promptly, but Wagner was held for three months. Upon her return to the US, Wagner sued Samaritan's Purse and their security contractor, Clayton Consultants, a hostage negotiation consultancy owned by Triple Canopy, accusing the organization "of failing to train its security personnel adequately and of willfully ignoring warning signs that abductions were a threat to foreigners." The organization settled out of court in March 2012.[32][33]

Controversy

In March 2001, The New York Times reported that Samaritan's Purse had "blurred the line between church and state" in the way it had distributed publicly funded aid to victims of the El Salvador earthquake. Residents from several villages stated they first had to sit through a half-hour prayer meeting before receiving assistance.[34] In a statement, USAID said Samaritan's Purse had not violated federal guidelines, but emphasized the need for the organization to "maintain adequate and sufficient separation" between prayer sessions and publicly-funded activities.[35]

In 2003, Islamic leaders criticized Samaritan's Purse within the United Kingdom after its president, Franklin Graham, stated that Islam is a "very evil and wicked religion",[36][27] leading to opposition campaigns by the Islamic leaders.[37] Samaritan's Purse responded to accusations of being anti-Islamic by highlighting their long history of non-denominational co-operation and charity work in Baghdad without attempting to preach or proselytize.[38]

Franklin Graham drew scrutiny in 2009 for drawing a full-time salary from Samaritan's Purse, while at the same time receiving a full-time salary from Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA). This was called into question after his 2008 compensation from both organizations totaled $1.2 million. (Most of this was the result of a new IRS rule that required him to re-report deferred retirement contributions that had already been reported over the previous three years.[39]) Some experts on non-profits have questioned whether one person can perform two full-time jobs leading organizations that employ hundreds and spend hundreds of millions around the world.[40] In response to the questions about his compensation, Graham decided to give up his salary from BGEA, stating his calling to the ministry "was never based on compensation." He also had contributions to his retirement plans suspended until the economy bounced back.[41] However, Graham was again criticized in 2015 when it was revealed he had again taken up his salary from BGEA, and that his annual compensation was significantly higher than that of the CEO's of similar but much larger non-profit organisations [42]

In August 2013, Thankyou Group announced that it will no longer support Samaritan's Purse because it is not a signatory to the code of conduct run by the Australian Council for International Development, which bans aid as a vehicle for promoting religion or political groups.[43]

Response to the Covid-19 outbreak

On March 17, 2020, Samaritan's purse dispatched over 60 disaster response specialists, 20 tons of medical equipment and a field hospital to Cremona, Italy which started operations on March 20, 2020.[44][45][46][47] In cooperation with New York Cities' Mount Sinai Hospital, Samaritan's Purse constructed a 14 tent, 68-bed field hospital in Central Park from March 29 to April 1, 2020 with the intention of increasing Mount Sinai's surge capacity .[44][48][49][50]Prior to its' opening, journalists, politicians and LGBT activists raised concerns that the hospital is only recruiting christian medical staff and that it would provide inadequate and discriminatory care.[51][52][53] New York Mayor Bill de Blasio stated that the group's presence was "Very Troubling", while New York State Senator Brad Hoylman told NBC News that he considered it "a shame that the federal government has left us in the position of having to accept charity from such bigots".[54][55][11]. Franklin Graham later responded to Hoylman's request to provide public reassurance by stating that "We do not make distinctions about an individual's religion, race, sexual orientation, or economic status. We certainly do not discriminate, and we have a decades-long track record that confirms just that." [44][56]. Plans to convert the Cathedral of St. John the Divine into a 200 bed hospital were shelved on April 9, 2020 due a plateau of virus related hospitalizations.[57] On April 7, 2020, shipped 8 tons of medical supplies to Alaska to help provide supplies to remote communities.[58][59][60]

References

  1. ^ Charity Navigator Rating – Samaritan's Purse at www.charitynavigator.org
  2. ^ "World Vision Our History". World Vision. Retrieved November 9, 2014.
  3. ^ "Samaritan's Purse History". Samaritans Purse. Retrieved November 9, 2014.
  4. ^ Blinder, Alan (August 2, 2014). "American Doctor With Ebola Arrives in U.S. for Treatment". The New York Times. Retrieved August 3, 2014.
  5. ^ Neal, Dale (August 1, 2014). "Samaritan's Purse evacuating 60 from Ebola outbreak". Asheville Citizen-Times. Retrieved August 3, 2014.
  6. ^ McCay, Betsey (July 31, 2014). "Peace Corps, Aid Groups Evacuate Personnel From Ebola-Hit West Africa". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved August 3, 2014.
  7. ^ Walker, Jade (August 21, 2014). "Kent Brantly, American Doctor Treated For Ebola, To Be Released From U.S. Hospital". The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com. Retrieved August 21, 2014.
  8. ^ "Facing Darkness movie comes to Canada". Samaritan's Purse Canada. Retrieved April 5, 2017.
  9. ^ http://www.airliners.net, photos of Samaritain's Purse DC-8 & DC-3 aircraft
  10. ^ Offenhartz, Jake (March 30, 2020). "Group Behind Central Park Coronavirus Tent Hospital Asks Volunteers To Support Anti-Gay Agenda". Gothamist. Retrieved March 31, 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  11. ^ a b "Group behind NYC's COVID-19 field hospital run by antigay evangelist". NBC News. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
  12. ^ staff/jake-offenhartz (March 31, 2020). "De Blasio "Very Concerned" About Anti-Gay Evangelical Group Running Central Park Coronavirus Hospital". Gothamist. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
  13. ^ "Operation Christmas Child (Fact Sheet)". Samaritan's Purse. Retrieved October 8, 2015.
  14. ^ "Can you believe it? Operation Christmas Child celebrates tonight for the 100 million shoeboxes delivered to poor children around the world! Congrats to Reverend Franklin Graham, Samaritan's Purse everyone who helped and helps". Gretawire. April 6, 2013. Archived from the original on June 12, 2015. Retrieved June 11, 2015.
  15. ^ "Operation Christmas Child/Children's Evangelistic Rallies" (PDF). Occupying Till He Returns. Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. 1998. Thousands of children were touched in 1998 by Operation Christmas Child, a project that ministers to both the physical and spiritual needs of children around the world... In conjunction with the distribution of shoe box gifts, BGEA International Ministries often arranges Children's Evangelistic Rallies, which include a presentation of "The Greatest Gift of All." In this lively program, a young boy learns about God, His creation and His gift of salvation through Jesus Christ. At the end of the program, children are invited to become God's friends by accepting the forgiveness He provides through His Son. Trained volunteers meet with each child who responds. Rallies took place in Romania and in hurricane-ravaged Nicaragua and Peru. Total attendance at the rallies was 245,000, with more than 42,000 inquirers.
  16. ^ "Sharing Christ's Love Through Operation Christmas Child" (PDF). Samaritan's Purse 2003 Ministry Report. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 10, 2004. Operation Christmas Child is one of the best evangelistic tools because it is a gift," ministry partner Victor Kulbich said. "It opens the door to telling about Jesus.
  17. ^ "Discover The Greatest Journey". Archived from the original on October 22, 2013. The journey to faith begins when children are offered Gospel storybooks during Operation Christmas Child gift distributions. The most far-reaching impact comes later, when boys and girls are invited to participate in the voluntary Bible study course produced by Samaritan's Purse... The 12-lesson set guides children through a study of who Jesus Christ is, what it means to follow Him, and how to share this exciting message with others. After children complete the program, they are presented with a personalized certificate. To help these boys and girls continue to grow in their faith, we want to provide them with their very own copies of the Greatest Gift of All New Testament. This special edition also includes selected Old Testament stories, a dictionary, and a section that encourages the children to memorize Scripture. All of the materials used for The Greatest Journey are provided at the request of local churches and ministry partners. Millions of boys and girls have indicated that they have committed their lives to Jesus Christ after receiving shoe box gifts and participating in our follow-up program. By sharing their faith one-on-one, these children in turn lead friends and relatives to Jesus Christ
  18. ^ Polly Curtis. "Education: Parents angry at evangelicals' charity scheme". the Guardian.
  19. ^ "Christmas in July—and Every Month!". Samaritan's Purse. Archived from the original on July 22, 2015.
  20. ^ "Top 10 Reasons to Pack an Operation Christmas Child Shoebox! - Pedro Carrion". Pedro Carrion. November 18, 2016. Retrieved December 18, 2017.
  21. ^ McCurry, Patrick (December 18, 2002), "Presents imperfect", The Guardian, London, retrieved August 29, 2017
  22. ^ McGreal, Chris (December 12, 2010), "Sarah Palin visits crisis-hit Haiti", The Guardian, London
  23. ^ Healy, Alison (October 2009), "Christmas aid group rejects criticism", The Irish Times
  24. ^ "Uncle Sam may be indirectly funding religious conversion in India". Firstpost.
  25. ^ Parents want Christian charity out of public schools, CBC.ca, November 25, 2002, archived from the original on April 16, 2009
  26. ^ Grossman, Lynn (March 2006), "Billy Graham's son takes the pulpit, his own way", USA Today, retrieved August 29, 2017
  27. ^ a b Muir, Hugh (November 29, 2003), "Co-op cuts Christmas box link with US charity", The Guardian, London, retrieved February 28, 2010
  28. ^ a b BBC News (October 23, 2003), Shoe box charity in religious row, BBC News Online, retrieved August 29, 2017
  29. ^ "Legal News". Private Eye. London. October 17, 2014. p. 13.
  30. ^ "Charity Navigator Rating - Samaritan's Purse". Charitynavigator.org. Retrieved August 9, 2014.
  31. ^ "Consolidated Financial Statements and Supplemental Schedules" (April 14, 2015) Dixon Hughes Goodman LLP. p. 4 'Consolidated Statement of Activities' Retrieved January 23, 2015. Samaritan's Purse website
  32. ^ "Darfur kidnapping victim sues aid group that sent her". Reuters. May 19, 2011. Retrieved August 29, 2017.
  33. ^ Rix, Matt (January 29, 2013). "Perspectives: Standard of care rising for employees in threat elevated areas". businessinsurance.com. Business Insurance. Retrieved August 4, 2014.
  34. ^ Gonzalez, David (March 8, 2001), "U.S. Aids Conversion-Minded Quake Relief in El Salvador", The New York Times, retrieved February 28, 2010
  35. ^ Gonzalez, David (March 5, 2001), "U.S. Cautions Group on Mixing Religion and Salvador Quake Aid", The New York Times, retrieved February 28, 2010
  36. ^ Goodstein, Laurie (May 8, 2003), "Top Evangelicals Critical Of Colleagues Over Islam", The New York Times, retrieved February 28, 2010
  37. ^ icWales (November 5, 2006), Red-faced MP dumps Islam-bashing charity, retrieved February 28, 2010
  38. ^ Vardy, David (November 18, 2003), "Being good Samaritans", Guardian Unlimited, London, retrieved February 28, 2010
  39. ^ Associated Press, File. "Franklin Graham moves to address concerns about his $1.2 million pay packages". cleveland.com. Retrieved August 9, 2014.
  40. ^ Tim Funk; Ames Alexander (October 2009), "Franklin Graham's CEO pay draws experts' criticism", Charlotte Observer, retrieved March 1, 2010[dead link‍]
  41. ^ Funk, Tim. "CHARLOTTE: Franklin Graham gives up one of two nonprofit salaries | Religion". NewsObserver.com. Archived from the original on April 13, 2014. Retrieved August 9, 2014.
  42. ^ Tim Funk, Ames Alexander (August 8, 2015). "Franklin Graham takes pay he once gave up". The Charlotte Observer. Retrieved August 31, 2015.
  43. ^ Battersby, Lucy (August 20, 2013). "Fund-raiser Thankyou Water drops support for evangelical group". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved November 16, 2017.
  44. ^ a b c Reyes, Lorenzo. "An emergency field hospital to treat COVID-19 patients is opening in NYC's Central Park". USA TODAY. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
  45. ^ Rambaran, Vandana (April 1, 2020). "Samaritan's Purse Central Park field hospital takes in first patient in coronavirus fight". Fox News. Retrieved April 11, 2020.
  46. ^ Bordoni, Linda (March 19, 2020). "Samaritan's Purse provides crucial medical care to coronavirus-hit Italy". Vatican News. Retrieved April 11, 2020.
  47. ^ Coates, Erin (March 17, 2020). "Franklin Graham's Samaritan's Purse Dispatches Entire Emergency Field Hospital to Italy". The Western Journal. Retrieved April 11, 2020.
  48. ^ Fenton, Reuven; Marsh, Julia; Golding, Bruce (March 29, 2020). "Massive field hospital for coronavirus patients going up in Central Park". New York Post. Retrieved April 11, 2020.
  49. ^ Miller, Anna (April 9, 2020). "What it's like inside the Central Park field hospital in New York City: 'Our country is in a war'". Business Insider. Retrieved April 11, 2020. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  50. ^ "Samaritan's Purse, in Collaboration with Mount Sinai Health System, Opens Emergency Field Hospital in New York's Central Park in Response to the Coronavirus Pandemic". Mount Sinai Hospital. April 1, 2020. Retrieved April 11, 2020.
  51. ^ Merritt, Jonathan (April 2, 2020). "New Yorkers Are Right to Be Skeptical of Evangelical-Run Coronavirus Ward in Central Park". The Daily Beast. Retrieved April 11, 2020.
  52. ^ Greenspan, Rachel (March 31, 2020). "The group building tents for coronavirus treatment in Central Park says its medical staff must adhere to Christian beliefs, sparking condemnation online". Business Insider. Retrieved April 11, 2020.
  53. ^ McGovern, Terry; Battistini, Emily (April 7, 2020). "Bias and health care don't mix: Samaritan's Purse shouldn't be welcome in New York, not even to treat the coronavirus". NY Daily News. Retrieved April 11, 2020.
  54. ^ Papenfuss, Mary (April 7, 2020). "Protester Arrested At Central Park Tent Hospital Tied To Anti-Gay Evangelical Franklin Graham". Huffpost. Retrieved April 11, 2020.
  55. ^ Chakraborty, Barnini (April 3, 2020). "Catholic group slams de Blasio for questioning Christian charity's New York coronavirus field hospital". Fox News. Retrieved April 11, 2020.
  56. ^ Sopelsa, Brooke (April 6, 2020). "Protester arrested at NYC COVID-19 field hospital run by anti-gay evangelist". NBC News. Retrieved April 11, 2020.
  57. ^ Stack, Liam (April 9, 2020). "Plan for Cathedral Hospital Stalls Amid Concern Over Evangelical Role". New York Times. Retrieved April 11, 2020.
  58. ^ Rulz, Michael (April 7, 2020). "Samaritan's Purse jet lands in Alaska with massive shipment of medical gear for coronavirus response". Fox News. Retrieved April 11, 2020.
  59. ^ Leseman, Matt (April 8, 2020). "Samaritan's Purse donates over 17,000 pounds of medical supplies to Alaska". Microsoft News. Retrieved April 11, 2020.
  60. ^ "Governor Dunleavy Thanks Samaritan's Purse for Medical Supplies". April 6, 2020. Retrieved April 11, 2020.
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