AN UPDATE from FRANKLIN GRAHAM

HOPE IN THE MIDST OF TERROR

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HOPE IN THE MIDST OF TERROR [P1/2]

SHOEBOX GIFTS ARE ONLY THE BEGINNING [P3]

WE ARE STILL IN TROUBLE WITH READING AND WRITING [P4]

WAYS YOU CAN HELP [P4]

OUR MISSION [P4]IN THIS

ISSUE

YOUN

ES MOH

AMM

AD/POLARIS/NEW

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East of the Tigris River, the plains of Nineveh have been liberated, though the devastation is immense and the bloodshed is far from over. The streets are littered with explosives, and returning families are often maimed or even killed by booby traps hidden in their homes in places like couch cushions and coffee pots.

Eleven miles outside Mosul at the Emergency Field Hospital operated by Samaritan’s Purse, our doctors and nurses are fighting to save the lives of Iraqis—many of them women and children—who are innocent victims of ISIS. Families have been horribly injured by IEDs (improvised explosive devices) and mortar shells, and young boys and girls shot in the back by ISIS snipers as they tried to run to safety.

It sounds hopeless—until you see and hear what God is doing there. “Miracles!” said one Iraqi pastor …

DEAR FRIEND,

Four months since the Iraqi army began driving ISIS terrorists out of the city of Mosul, the battle is only halfway won.

WRATH OF ISIS: EVEN IN RETREAT, TERRORISTS CONTINUE TO KILL AND WOUND CIVILIANS, LEAVING MUCH OF MOSUL IN RUINS. MACIEJ MOSKWA/

NURPHOTO/SIPA USA/NEWSACOM

SAMARITANTHE

HELPING IN JESUS' NAMEAPRIL 2017

… I met at the hospital just a few weeks ago. “God is healing people. God is saving bodies and souls.”

Pastor M (name withheld for security reasons) works with my

long-time friend Pastor Sami Dagher, who has dedicated his life to spreading the Gospel across the Middle East. Mosul is the modern name for the ancient city of

Nineveh, where God called Jonah to preach. “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me” (Jonah 1:2).

Just as Jonah saw Nineveh repent, our hospital staff have been blessed to see patients from many backgrounds respond to the love of Christ. Pastor M described one day when four ISIS fighters were admitted to the hospital. “When they came, they were almost dead,” he said. “Then they saw that those who they used to persecute—the Christians—are the ones who are saving their lives. Those they used to hate are now helping them and giving them their lives back. It’s a great testimony to God’s love.” All four of them asked Jesus to forgive their sins as they trusted Him as their Lord and Saviour. After

experiencing God’s love and hearing His words through our chaplains, many patients want to know more about Christ, and some even ask for their own copy of Scripture.

Even though eastern Mosul has been liberated,

Christians say it is still too dangerous to return there. The only evangelical church in Mosul was used as a barracks by ISIS, who burned the Bibles and crosses as they tried to purge Christianity from the area. But they failed.

When ISIS seized Mosul in August 2014, there were 70 Christian

families in that sanctuary for an overnight prayer meeting. God kept them safe there for five days until they were able to escape to Erbil. As soon as it is safe, Samaritan’s Purse is committed to helping to repair and reopen the church as a light for the Gospel in Mosul.

“We are praying that God will give us a sign when it is time to return,” said one of our chaplains, whose father was the founding pastor of the church in Mosul.

Pastor M said that even though this is a difficult time for persecuted Christians in Iraq, it is also a “golden time” for evangelism to Muslims disillusioned by ISIS. “Many Muslims have started to question their religion,” he said. “That’s opened a wider gate for us as Christians to do relief work, and at the same time tell them the reason behind it. God is love. He commanded us to love each other—even love your enemy and help them. To me, this is what the Samaritan story is all about.”

The Gospel is also spreading outside the hospital through the work of Samaritan’s Purse and our church partners in the refugee settlements around Erbil, a city 60 miles from Mosul. Our teams are working with church partners to provide thousands of families with food, blankets, coats, shoes, and other items to help them make it through the winter.

Your gifts and prayers help make this possible.

continued from page 1HOPE IN THE MIDST OF TERROR

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SAVING LIVES: SAMARITAN’S PURSE AIRLIFTED THIS EMERGENCY FIELD HOSPITAL TO IRAQ AND STAFFED IT WITH CHRISTIAN DOCTORS AND NURSES WHO CARE FOR THE VICTIMS OF ISIS AS THEY SHOW GOD’S LOVE FOR THE PEOPLE OF IRAQ.

SHOT IN THE BACK: MANY OF THE PATIENTS AT OUR FIELD HOSPITAL ARE MOTHERS AND CHILDREN WHO WERE SHOT BY ISIS SNIPERS AS THEY FLED FROM MOSUL.

We thank God for nearly 11.5 million shoebox gifts Samaritan’s Purse collected last year through our Operation Christmas Child project.

We are now in the process of handing them out through church partners in 113 countries. Every one of these gifts is an opportunity to share the Gospel. Churches tell children about Jesus as they hand out the gifts, and as God opens doors they also invite the boys and girls to return for The Greatest Journey. This is a series of 12 Bible lessons developed by Samaritan’s Purse especially for shoebox recipients to help them grow in faith and learn how to share Christ with friends and family members.The testimony of a boy named Clinton in Kenya is a great example of how it works. Clinton’s family followed a different religion, but a friend invited him to church to receive a shoebox from Operation Christmas Child. Intrigued by what he heard about the love of Jesus, he returned to the church to attend The Greatest Journey classes, and that’s where he prayed to accept Christ as his Saviour.Clinton’s mother, Mary, was curious about the change in her son’s life and also about the people who had been so generous and loving to her son. So, she went to church with him, heard the Gospel, and responded in repentance and faith to trust Jesus. “Where else can you find such love?” Mary said. “I decided since that time that I would serve the Lord and express the

same love to other people.”

Clinton is among over 5 million children who have made decisions for Christ through The Greatest Journey during the past seven years.

This coming year, we are trusting God for the resources to offer The Greatest Journey to 4.4 million children—almost a million more than last year. It costs only $10 per child, including a New Testament in the local language. Please pray for the churches, the volunteer teachers, and the children and their families who are being transformed through this global Gospel outreach.

All of us at Samaritan’s Purse are thankful for your prayers and support as we work around the world to help spread the Good News of God’s love. May the Lord bless you.

Sincerely,

Franklin Graham President, Samaritan’s Purse

Shoebox gifts are only the beginning of The Greatest Journey

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CHILDREN IN FIJI BEING TAUGHT ABOUT THE LOVE OF JESUS FROM THE GREATEST JOURNEY.

THE JOURNEY BEGINS: A TEACHER IN THE SOUTHERN AFRICAN NATION OF NAMIBIA USES THE GREATEST JOURNEY TO TEACH BIBLE STORIES TO CHILDREN FROM HER VILLAGE.

will learn about Jesus through The Greatest

Journey in 2017

MILLION CHILDREN

4.4

NEW CREATION: CLINTON HELPED LEAD HIS MOTHER TO CHRIST THROUGH THE GREATEST JOURNEY.

WAYS YOU CAN HELPGET INVOLVED volunteer for Operation

Christmas Child.

volunteer for Disaster Relief.

fundraise – make your birthday a day of change with donations instead of gifts

GIVE Fund our work by giving a one-off

donation.

Partner with Samaritan’s Purse by giving a monthly donation.

By leaving a gift in your will to Samaritan’s Purse, you will leave a legacy that will live beyond your actual life, reaching out with aid and assistance to people in desperate need. Find out more https://www.samaritanspurse.org.au/give-a-bequest/

PRAY... for our work in Iraq; for the safety of the exceptionally courageous

volunteers and staff members who work so hard to bring relief in the name of Jesus to so many victims of war.

for relief from famine, drought, and war in South Sudan; for safety of our people who work there in conditions of danger and despair all around, and that the work of Samaritan's Purse will make a major impact to alleviate the famine and lack of drinking water.

for The Greatest Journey; that many boys and girls around the globe would find true hope and joy in following Jesus as Lord and Saviour and that their parents and whole communities may also be impacted by the Good News of Jesus Christ.

for our work in many countries where we provide disaster relief, education, clean drinking water, food security, health programs, and anti-human trafficking programs; that we would always be wise in the deployment of funds entrusted to us by our wonderful supporters.

OUR MISSIONSamaritan’s Purse is a non-profit, Christian organisation providing emergency relief and development assistance to suffering people around the world. Samaritan’s Purse is meeting the physical needs of victims of war, famine, natural disaster, poverty, and disease with the aim of demonstrating God’s love and sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ. The aid and assistance are given without regard to the race, creed, gender, religion, or ethnicity of the beneficiaries.

We are still in trouble with reading and writing!

AUSTRALIASamaritan’s Purse Australia Limited ABN 84 070 722 404

Samaritan’s Purse Australasia-Operation Christmas Child Ltd ABN 80 162 895 623

Postal: PO Box 346, Penrith NSW 2751 Phone: 1300 884 468 Web: samaritanspurse.org.au

NEW ZEALANDSamaritan’s Purse Australia Limited NZ CCRN CC36649

Postal: PO Box 870, Shortland St, Auckland 1140 Phone: 0800 726 274 Web: samaritanspurse.org.nz

We are very grateful to every single supporter who has contributed to help us keep We Can Read, We Can Write and Better Teachers, Better Education literacy programs in Cambodia open for a few more months. This project is still in dire need of funding to keep it afloat at least until the end of 2017, although we would like to continue with it for years to come. Please reach out to your friends and ask them to help keep this program alive by contributing financially.

Education is one of the most important routes to escaping poverty. According to the United Nations Global Education First Initiative (GEFI); for every year in school, a person’s earnings increase by 10%, and if a country’s entire population is educated for an entire extra year, its annual per capita GDP growth gets a 25% boost. The report also mentions that universal basic reading skills would reduce world poverty by 12%.

I am indeed grateful for all the financial support, volunteering, and prayer support that we receive from thousands of people across Australia and New Zealand. It not only keeps us resourced to reach out to people in desperate need, but also encourages our Australian and New Zealand team with the work God has called us to.

May the Lord bless you.

Jorge Rodrigues Executive Director Samaritan’s Purse Australia/New Zealand