The Vision of the Good Samaritan Orphanage

The Good Samaritan's goal is to reconstruct young lives by providing:

• Food, clothing, and shelter
• Loving and concerned staff who care for them and teach them values
• A relationship with an extended family you can be a part of
• Education, and the chance to dream abut their future
• A scholarship program to prepare them to be leaders in their society

Our vision is implicit in our name: When Jesus was asked "Who is my neighbor?" he told the story of a man who was attacked by thieves, beaten, and left on the side of the road to die. He then told how two men passed by and ignored his plight, but the third, a traveler from Samaria, acted differently. He stopped, attended to the man's injuries, took him to a hotel and paid for his care. Jesus asked his crowd, "Who then was his neighbor?" They answered, "The man who showed him pity." "Go then," said Jesus, "and do likewise."

Our belief is that orphans in Africa need food, care, education, love and also a spiritual dimension to their lives. Stopping AIDS is also about the renewal of personal values. Within a nation and a community tormented by the deaths of so many people, we are trying to offer hope, love and the promise of new life in Jesus to the next generation.

Love comes primarily from local caregivers, but it can also come from these children realizing there is a larger community of people who care about them and are willing to support them with their concern, regular communication, love and prayer. We want these children to feel part of an extended family around the world that supports them and the decisions they make in their lives.

We want to live our Christian commitment to them, that their lives (and ours) might be transformed in the process.