Samaritans

A lawyer asked Jesus what he ought to do gain eternal life. Jesus replied: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, all your strength and all your mind; and love your neighbor as yourself." The lawyer asked, as if he didn't know, "And who is my neighbor?" Jesus replied and said: "A man was going down to Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among robbers, and they stripped and beat him, and went away leaving him half dead. And by chance, a preacher was going down that road; when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. Likewise a priest also, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by him by. But a Samaritan who was on a journey, came upon the injured man, and felt compassion for him. He medicated and bandaged up the victim's wounds. Then the Samaritan brought him an inn and took care of him. On the next day he made provision for the victim to be treated, and for the bill to be paid. Jesus then posed the question: "Which of these travelers proved to be a good neighbor to the man who had fallen into the robbers' hands?" And the questioner said: "the one who showed mercy toward him." Jesus said, "Go and do likewise." About 2000 years went by. A group of believers who wanted to follow the precedent that Jesus had set founded Samaritan's Purse, a Christian ministry that puts shoe leather on the gospel. The world headquarters of Samaritan's Purse is in Boone, North Carolina, where I live. In September, 2024, hurricane Helene twirled her way out of the gulf, rambled through the armpit of Florida, and blasted northward, rolling right over our Blue Ridge mountains, tore up many a house and home in Boone. Today, a year and three months after Helene's destruction, a few residents of the Boone area gathered to dedicate a newly-constructed house that has recently been built by volunteers who were laboring for the Lord Jesus Christ, through the auspices of Samaritan's Purse, and the thousands of supporters around the world who contribute to that Christian fund.

If you look close into the photo, you may see a descendent of the American pioneer, Daniel Boone, who had trodden his way through our area, back in the day . . .about 200 years ago. Like Daniel Boone's pioneering trek through the western frontier, Samaritan's Purse, has, in years past and present, blazed a trail through disaster areas around the world, providing medical care, food, shelter and security for victims of hurricanes, typhoons, famines, droughts, wars and the myriad of disasters that this fallen world is heir to. Glass half-Full