Samaritans Purse

Pastor John lives in the remote village of Kalo in Central Province, PNG. In 2006, our local partner, Living Light Foursquare Church of Port Moresby took 200 Operation Christmas Child boxes and distributed them through Pastor John. News of the shoe boxes drew people in and excited children came from villages all around.

The Port Moresby church then helped the village build a church… and then they put in a water pump. This transformed life for the village in a whole new way. (more…)

1 in 8 people in the world still do not have access to safe water and that’s why Samaritan’s Purse has a goal to raise $500,000 for safe accessible water by World Water Day on March 22nd, 2010. The great news is that we have already received more than $300,000!

In 2009 this enabled us to install 1,561 BioSand Water Filters, dig 111 wells, install 2 water tanks and drill 8 bore holes. We also dug 2 ponds. With your help we were able to give 25,648 people water in Cambodia, Indonesia, Myanmar and Liberia.

We are so excited at the prospects of being able to help even more people get access to safe water in 2010. Thank you for helping us as we work towards this goal.

For more information about Turn On The Tap, visit www.turnonthetap.org.au

It’s hard for us to imagine how it would be to not have safe accessible water. Sangseoun is 31 years old; he lives in Sdokprey village in Takeo province. He is married with three children. He has firsthand experience of this challenge…

“My village did not have clean water to use and so the people in the village had big problems. Many in the village were sick and we did not have water to drink. Before I was married for a time all the members in my family were sick and we did not have the money to pay for hospital fees and so they sold their rice fields. (more…)

Who would of thought that Jack and Jill walking up a hill, could inspire a movement of children to fetch a pail for others.

Forget bringing in your latest action figurine, ten-year-old Cooper Winter’s class had their eyes opened when he decided to give Show and Tell with a twist.
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Every 20 seconds, one child in our world dies from water-borne illness. This would wipe out a whole primary school class – every 10 minutes.

This is one of the reasons why we are working hard to provide clean water to hundreds of needy communities around the world. Through Turn on the Tap we are intensifying our efforts to provide safe accessible water. A big thank you to each and every one of you who have already participated in the campaign.

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Dear Friend,

I know you’ll join me in celebrating the fantastic news that 303,921 children in the Asia Pacific region have been given their very own Operation Christmas Child shoe box. – Read the full story

Logistically, so many things need to come together for this program to be a success. Every link in the chain is crucial. So thank you for everything you did to make this amazing project possible! 

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Turn on the Tap is a global campaign launched by Samaritan’s Purse to provide access to safe water for communities in Asia and Africa. The following story shows how Samaritans Purse water projects are transforming lives in Cambodia. 

Mey Sen is a weary grandmother with deep wrinkles etched into her dark skin after years of gruelling work as a subsistence rice farmer. She provides for three grandchildren while their parents work in Phnom Penh and return only once a month to visit.  

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It’s difficult to imagine life without readily available, clean water. But for thousands of people in nations like Cambodia, Vietnam and Papua New Guinea it’s not as easy as turning on the tap.

I am always encouraged by the testimonies of how something as basic as a well, or even one simple water filter, can dramatically improve the lives of so many people. (Click here to read Mey Sen’s story)

Already thousands of water filters for people in Southeast Asia have been distributed through Samaritan’s Purse. I have seen these filters and they are very simple with no moving parts so they can’t break down. 

What I have learned through being involved with Samaritan’s Purse is that we all have a responsibility to address poverty, and we don’t need to feel helpless. Your prayers and gifts for Samaritan’s Purse make a big difference!

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