The Children Today
This is the best day in the year on which to make a study of the children that you know, They have all heard the history of Christmas; in their minds the day is associated with a glory to men greater than any other, a divine presence is over and around them; to each one this presence is given a form in thought, and upon that thought depends the difference among the children. The natural little miser grasps nothing but a thought of gain, he or she wants the fairest presents, and complains if a little brother or sister seems to be more blessed. Another child in the same family rejoices whatever happens to his or her gifts, but in truth rejoices more over the little gift which he or she is able to present to Mamma than over any other event of the day. And the act of each child if noted and recorded will, if returned to fifteen years later, be found to be typical of that child's life through all the intervening years. So the Christmas days of children bring out the impelling forces at work in their minds. They hear the story of the coming of a Savior and in their direct way they reason that the coming is a blessing, but when they seek to find an illustration it has to be in some material form which they can feel or hear or see.
But, too, perhaps from one in the family there shines out a clearer sense, a realization that there are different forms of happiness, and that in truth to make Mamma, or little sister or little brother happy is sweeter than to be the one directly blessed. From one Christmas day's experience with a family of children he who carefully watches can get the key to the character of each one and can make shrewd estimates how it is to be with each one, and at night will find himself looking forward and predicting where, if life is spared to all, each one will be found when each takes up a life work and begins to impress the people whom they will be with. Anonymous.
100 countries around the world.
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 located in
some 20 countries across five continents.
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.
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.
As the organization grew, Samaritan’s Purse not only funded mission
partners but also began to develop its own large-scale relief projects:
- Providing medical care in the midst of conflicts in Somalia in 1993, Rwanda in 1994, Sudan since 1997, Kosovo in 1999, Afghanistan in 2002, and Iraq in 2003.
- Rebuilding or repairing thousands of houses following Hurricane Mitch in 1998, the El Salvador earthquakes in 2001, the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004, and Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
- Chartering emergency airlifts to Indonesia and Pakistan in 2005, North Korea in 2007, and Myanmar and China in 2008.
- Distributing food to hundreds of thousands of displaced people in Uganda and Darfur.
The organization's mission statement states that the organization
seeks to meet the spiritual and physical needs of people suffering from
war, poverty, disaster, disease, and famine, with the purpose of global
missionary work attendant on humanitarian aid. The organization aims at
service for the church worldwide to propagate "the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ".
Samaritan’s Purse seeks to specialize in emergency relief, shelter,
water and sanitation, food and nutrition, medical care and public
health, HIV/AIDS, and community-based livestock and livelihood projects.
In addition to responding to emergencies worldwide, Samaritan’s Purse includes several ongoing ministries.
- Operation Christmas Child - created in 1990 by Dave Cook - is a 'global Christmas gift exchange' project operated by Samaritan's Purse. Each November it opens thousands of locations, typically at churches or schools, to collect shoeboxes filled with toys, school supplies, personal items, and other gifts. These boxes are then distributed as Christmas gifts, accompanied by Christian literature. From 1993 through 2012, some 100 million gift boxes have been handed out in more than 130 countries.
- Disaster Relief responds to emergency situations. In the United States and Canada, Samaritan’s Purse mobilizes teams of volunteers to repair houses damaged by natural disasters. The organization has four tractor-trailer units loaded with emergency supplies and equipment. Each can serve as a self-contained base in a disaster zone.
- 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. The Post-Residency Program supports physicians as they serve two-year terms in mission hospitals and consider becoming career missionaries. World Medical Mission also operates a warehouse that ships equipment and supplies to mission hospitals and provides them with technical support.
- Children’s Heart Project provides surgery for children born with heart defects in countries where proper care is not available. Children are brought to North America, where services are donated by hospitals, surgeons, and host families and churches..
- HIV/AIDS Projects mobilize private, church, corporate, and government resources to respond to the AIDS pandemic. In partnership with the President’s Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief, Samaritan’s Purse is working in East Africa with education about the disease and abstinence-based prevention programs.
- Turn on the Tap is a campaign to provide safe drinking water in the developing world. Samaritan’s Purse-Canada holds the license to build BioSand Water Filters, which can provide a family with a perpetual source of safe drinking water. Samaritan’s Purse also drills and repairs wells, sets up large-scale filters in disaster zones, and helps to educate communities in hygiene and sanitation.
Operation Christmas Child brings joy and hope to children in desperate situations around the world through gift-filled shoe boxes and the message of Gods unconditional love. Anyone can participate in this simple, hands-on project. Join today and make children happy!!
Here's the website for "Operation Christmas Child" if you would like to find out more about it!
http://www.samaritanspurse.org/index....
