Samaritan’s Purse staff train Liberians on Ebola prevention during the devastating 2014 outbreak.
September, 2015—When a 32-year-old wife and mother was raped and killed in Liberia’s Lofa County, only one Christian organization came alongside the grief-stricken family to provide physical and psychological assistance: Samaritan’s Purse.
Through our Liberia Light project, Samaritan’s Purse had trained staff available to help care for the children and provide prayer and care for their heartsick father.
Samaritan’s Purse is transforming lives through Community Empowerment projects in Liberia.
Horrific crimes like this are why Samaritan’s Purse is extending the Liberia Light ministry to help people in this impoverished African nation recover from the catastrophic Ebola virus outbreak in 2014.
Gender-based violence increased after the outbreak. Amongst a population of 4.3 million, nearly 1,400 incidents of sexual and gender-based violence were reported in 2014 (the actual number of incidents is likely much greater). More than 600 of those reports involved rape.
“This ministry gives us an opportunity to help the most vulnerable women in their greatest time of need, which is who we are as an organization,” said Kendell Kauffeldt, Samaritan’s Purse’s Liberia country director. “Through this initiative, our staff can share the Gospel of a loving Savior who can take away their shame and heal them from their pain.”
Samaritan’s Purse staff are working with more than 20 churches to design and implement a biblically-focused gender-based violence outreach strategy. You can be part of that strategy through your donations and prayers, ensuring that thousands of struggling Liberians will discover “the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge“ (Ephesians 3:17-19, ESV).
We are also training these church partners to help Liberians avoid future Ebola virus outbreaks, especially amongst women, who are the primary caregivers. In this way, the church can become “a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth” (Isaiah 49:6).
