Samaritan’s Purse is a Christian relief and development organization that takes its name from Jesus Christ’s story in the Bible of the Good Samaritan. In Luke 10, Jesus tells of a man from Samaria who finds a traveler robbed and beaten at the side of the road, in desperate need of help.

Although the traveler was a complete stranger, the Samaritan bandages him, carries him to a local inn, spends a night caring for him, and then takes coins from his purse and pays the innkeeper to continue caring for him. The Samaritan also promises to come back and pay the innkeeper even more, if that is what is necessary to restore the traveler to full health.

Like that Good Samaritan, Samaritan’s Purse provides aid to hurting people-victims of war, disease, disaster, poverty, famine, and persecution. They do it regardless of their religious faith, race, gender, or socio-economic standing. They usually partner with local churches, just as the Good Samaritan partnered with the innkeeper. And they continue to nurture that partnership, and monitor the effectiveness of their work, just as the Samaritan arranged with the innkeeper.