Photo by Salah Darwish on Unsplash

According to their About Us page, Samaritan’s Purse has the primary purpose of “providing spiritual and physical aid to hurting people around the world.” Their name and purpose come from the Biblical story of the Good Samaritan: a man of a foreign nation goes above and beyond to care for a man in need, beaten on the side of the road, with funds that came out of the Samaritan’s own pocket – or his purse. They provide international relief and meet needs for “victims of war, poverty, natural disasters, disease, and famine with the purpose of sharing God’s love through His Son, Jesus Christ.” Their website is structured to provide both information about and means of action to aid these victims. The Samaritan’s Purse Home page has information on national and global relief efforts, links to financially aid these efforts, and stories on how these efforts made an impact. Their menu tabs include information about the organization, media (videos and podcasts) to inform and inspire those who are interested in helping, and ways to get involved physically and socially, not just financially.

Samaritan’s Purse has an active social media presence: about once per day on Facebook and Instagram and two to three times per day on X. Their accounts are aimed at using Pathos to inspire people to aid in their causes. The organization’s posts mostly consist of personal testimonies of those receiving the aid or of volunteer experiences. While these posts inspire viewers to engage physically by volunteering and financially by giving, there are not many posts that inspire digital engagement, the closest being frequent prayer requests posted on X.

One can do a long analysis of the public view of Samaritan’s Purse, but I will hit some highlights. Their operations as a relief organization are often well regarded. People generally agree that they are successful in providing local, national, and international relief to those who need it. However, as with most Christian-based organizations, their political and social beliefs are often criticized. Common themes of criticism are their anti-LGBTQ policies, their emphasis on religious conversion, and the controversy surrounding their president, Franklin Graham, son of the famous Billy Graham.