Samaritan's Purse Explained

Samaritan's Purse
Type:Faith-based
Founded Date:1970
Founder:Bob Pierce
Location:Boone, North Carolina, USA
Area Served:International
Focus:Religious ministry and crisis relief
Leader Title:President
Leader Name:Franklin Graham
Revenue:$1 billion USD

Samaritan's Purse is an evangelical Christian humanitarian aid organization that provides aid to people in physical need as a key part of its Christian missionary work. The organization's president is Franklin Graham, son of Christian evangelist Billy Graham. The name of the organization is derived from the New Testament Parable of the Good Samaritan. With international headquarters in Boone, North Carolina, the organization also maintains warehouse and aviation facilities in nearby North Wilkesboro and Greensboro, North Carolina.

History

Samaritan's Purse was founded in 1970 by Baptist pastor Robert Pierce (Bob), the founder of World Vision International, in Boone, North Carolina.[1] [2]

Franklin Graham met Pierce in 1973, and they made several trips together to visit relief projects and missionary partners in Asia and elsewhere. Graham became president of Samaritan's Purse in 1979 following Pierce's death in 1978.[3]

By 2022, Samaritan's Purse had offices in the United States, Australia, Canada, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Hong Kong, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom; the organization provides assistance in more than 100 countries.[4] It operates worldwide as Samaritan's Purse, Ippan Shadan Houjin in Japan and as the Emmanuel Group, a wholly owned aircraft title holding corporation formed in 2004.[5]

Programs

Samaritan's Purse includes several ongoing ministries.[6] [7]

Operation Christmas Child

Operation Christmas Child was created in 1990 by Dave Cooke and his wife Gill for children in Romania.[9] [10] [11] Each November thousands of churches, schools, groups and individual donors prepare and collect shoeboxes filled with toys, school supplies, personal items, and other small gifts. A booklet of Bible stories is often distributed alongside the shoebox gifts which are given to children based on need alone, regardless of their faith. These boxes are then distributed overseas by volunteers., over 124 million boxes had been delivered.[12]

The program uses "follow-up" evangelism[13] [14] [15] with pamphlets of Bible stories that are given to families that receive the boxes,[16] and an organizer for Operation Christmas Child says his goal every day is to "expand [God's] kingdom through Operation Christmas Child."

The follow-up evangelism program of Operation Christmas Child is called "The Greatest Journey". It is a 12-week discipleship program for children who receive shoebox gifts.[17]

Emergency aid

The organization's medical mission in Liberia, West Africa, was one of only two medical NGOs active in Liberia during the beginning of the 2014 Ebola outbreak. Samaritan's Purse and SIM USA both have been actively engaged in treating the outbreak of Ebola hemorrhagic fever in Liberia. On August 1, 2014, the organization announced that it was evacuating 60 nonessential personnel from Liberia. Dr. Kent Brantly, a Texas-based doctor working for the organization, was the first U.S. citizen to contract the Ebola virus in Liberia while treating the disease. He arrived in the United States on Saturday, August 2, and was treated and subsequently released after nearly three weeks in a special isolation unit of Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia.[18] [19] [20] [21] The organization recorded their mission in Liberia in the documentary Facing Darkness. Samaritan's Purse has a fleet of 21 planes and 2 helicopters for the emergency transport of basic necessities and aid workers.[22]

Ukraine aid

The organization stepped efforts to aid Ukraine in the midst of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict in 2022. The organization donated various supplies especially for the youth in schools such as medication, food, supplies, blankets, tarps, and bags. The donations were made through various methods of transportation such as semi trucks being loaded with roughly 80,000 donation goods, being transferred at Piedmont Triad International Airport on the DC-8 airplane, and then being air lifted to Poland where the goods are transported across the border to Ukraine. The organization accomplished its 30th airlift donation in the month of September having started in February, equating to roughly 4 airlifts per month. It is estimated that 5.5 million Ukrainians were aided due to the efforts with food, water, and supplies. Furthermore, the organization provided roughly 30 emergency field support hospitals in Lviv with the result of aiding nearly 18,000 patients.[23]

Financials

The organization's 2021 financial statement listed just $758 million in cash donations and another $245 million in donated goods and services. 85% of its $676 million in expenses went ministry expenses with the largest share (42%) going to their Operation Christmas Child project and 17% to emergency relief and 7% to its medical missions. Most expenses come from direct costs in delivering emergency and medical relief and Operation Christmas Child (57%) along with staff salaries and other employment expenses (20%).

The organization has received a 4 star rating (out of 4 stars) from the monitoring organization Charity Navigator.[24]

In 2020, Samaritan's Purse declined federal funding from the Trump administration originally withheld from the World Health Organization.[25]

Facilities and fleets

Based in Boone, North Carolina, the organization also maintains warehouse and administrative facilities in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina including a former bottling plant and newly constructed facility where its 5 custom tractor trailers used for distributing relief supplies are staged.[26]

The organization also operates a fleet of 23 passenger, cargo, and executive aircraft positioned around the world, registered in the organizations name and to the Emmanuel Group, a holding company.

Operations focused at their maintenance facilities at the Piedmont Triad International Airport, along with additional hangar facilities at the Wilkes County Airport.[27] A $1.5 million taxiway was built by the State of North Carolina 2019 to serve the organization's second hangar at that airport under construction at the time.[28] Aircraft serve humanitarian relief missions as well as executive transportation.[29]

Previous aircraft include a Mitsubishi MU 2 purchased in the mid-1990s and a Learjet 45 bought in 2020 and sold in 2021.[36]

The organization donated two Beechcraft King Air B200 aircraft in 2011 to a similar Micronesia-based organization.[37]

Controversy

The organization has been criticized for requiring volunteers to sign a controversial Statement of Faith which disavows homosexuality and same-sex marriage.[38] The organization's board of directors, which includes his son, has also been criticized for the $661,000 yearly salary paid to Graham, which is 40–50% more than similar non-profit organizations.[39] [40]

In March 2001, The New York Times reported that Samaritan's Purse had "blurred the line between church and state" in the way it had distributed publicly funded aid to victims of the January 2001 and February 2001 El Salvador earthquakes. Residents from several villages stated they first had to sit through a half-hour prayer meeting before receiving assistance. In a statement, USAID said Samaritan's Purse had not violated federal guidelines, but emphasized the need for the organization to "maintain adequate and sufficient separation" between prayer sessions and publicly funded activities.

In 2003, Islamic leaders criticized Samaritan's Purse within the United Kingdom after its president, Franklin Graham, called Islam a "very evil and wicked religion",[41] [42] leading to opposition campaigns by the Islamic leaders.[43] Samaritan's Purse responded to accusations of being anti-Islamic by highlighting their long history of non-denominational co-operation and charity work in Baghdad without attempting to preach or proselytize.[44]

The Operation Christmas Child project has been criticized in several countries, most notably in the UK,[45] [46] but also in Ireland,[47] India[48] and Canada.[49] In the United States, Ibrahim Hooper of the Council on American-Islamic Relations has stated that such religion-and-relief groups are "using their position of power to try to persuade people to leave their faith."[50] In 2003, The British supermarket chain Co-op and South Wales Fire Service both suspended their support for the project after numerous complaints about its religious connections. Samaritan's Purse responded by stating that Christian literature was only handed out where its staff "deemed it appropriate".[51]

Franklin Graham drew scrutiny in 2009 for drawing a full-time salary from Samaritan's Purse, while at the same time receiving a full-time salary from Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA). This was called into question after his 2008 compensation from both organizations totaled $1.2 million. (Most of this was the result of a new IRS rule that required him to re-report deferred retirement contributions that had already been reported over the previous three years.[52]) Some experts on non-profits have questioned whether one person can perform two full-time jobs leading organizations that employ hundreds and spend hundreds of millions around the world. In response to the questions about his compensation, Graham decided to give up his salary from BGEA, stating his calling to the ministry "was never based on compensation." He also had contributions to his retirement plans suspended until the economy bounced back.[53] However, Graham was again criticized in 2015 when it was revealed he had again taken up his salary from BGEA, and that his annual compensation was significantly higher than that of the CEO's of similar but much larger non-profit organisations.[54]

In 2010, an American woman and two Sudanese men were kidnapped while working for Samaritan's Purse in Sudan. The two men were released promptly, but the woman was held for three months. Upon her return to the US, she sued Samaritan's Purse and their security contractor, Clayton Consultants, a hostage negotiation consultancy owned by Triple Canopy, accusing the organization "of failing to train its security personnel adequately and of willfully ignoring warning signs that abductions were a threat to foreigners." The organization settled out of court in March 2012.[55] [56]

In May 2013 Franklin Graham wrote a letter to President Obama stating his concern that the IRS targeted Samaritan's Purse prior to the 2012 United States presidential election with a partisan audit.[57] [58]

In August 2013, Thankyou Group announced that it would no longer support Samaritan's Purse because it is not a signatory to the code of conduct run by the Australian Council for International Development, which bans aid as a vehicle for promoting religion or political groups.[59]

In October 2014, Samaritan's Purse threatened legal action in the UK against the posters of online comments on the discussion forum Mumsnet. The resultant letters prompted one of the busiest discussions on the site's "Am I being Unreasonable ?" forum.[60]

Response to the COVID-19 outbreak

Italy

On March 17, 2020, Samaritan's Purse dispatched over 60 disaster response specialists, 20 tons of medical equipment and a field hospital to Cremona, Italy which started operations on March 20, 2020.[61] [62] [63] [64]

Alaska

Samaritans' Purse airlifted 8 tons of medical supplies to Alaska on April 7, 2020, to help provide supplies to remote communities.[65] [66] [67]

New York

In cooperation with New York City's Mount Sinai Hospital, Samaritan's Purse constructed a 14 tent, 68-bed field hospital in Central Park on March 29, 2020, to increase Mount Sinai's surge capacity.[68] [69] Through April, over 190 people were treated there. By early May, all patients had been discharged, and there were plans to dismantle the tents.[70]

Criticism

Before the field hospital opened, journalists, politicians and LGBTQ activists raised concerns that it was only recruiting Christian medical staff and that it would provide inadequate and discriminatory care.[71] [72] [73] [74] [75] Volunteers are required to adhere to a statement of faith, agreeing to a definition of marriage as "exclusively the union of one genetic male and one genetic female" and acknowledging that "[God] will banish the unrighteous to everlasting punishment in hell."[76] [77] [78] New York Mayor Bill de Blasio stated that the presence of Samaritan's Purse was "very troubling," while New York State Senator Brad Hoylman told NBC News that he considered it "a shame that the federal government has left us in the position of having to accept charity from such bigots".[79] [80] [81] Franklin Graham later responded to Hoylman's request for public reassurance by stating: "We do not make distinctions about an individual's religion, race, sexual orientation, or economic status. We certainly do not discriminate, and we have a decades-long track record that confirms just that."[82] New York City's Commission on Human Rights closed an investigation into the hospital after finding no evidence it had discriminated against patients.[83] The group's departure was hailed as a victory by LGBTQ rights activists.[84]

Joint plans between Mount Sinai Hospital, Samaritan's Purse and the Episcopal Diocese of New York to convert the Cathedral of St. John the Divine into a 200-bed hospital were shelved on April 9, 2020. Although this decision was attributed at least in part to the assessment that virus-related hospitalizations had already plateaued,[85] [86] Bishop Andrew M.L. Dietsche of the Episcopal Diocese of New York later said that Graham's "exclusionary" and "narrow" attitude about Christianity was central to the decision. Specifically, the Samaritan's Purse requires its employees and volunteers to oppose gay marriage, which, in Dietsche's words, was incompatible with the work the New York Diocese had done "around the full inclusion of gay and lesbian people."

Notes and References

  1. Book: Battersby . Paul . Roy . Ravi . International Development: A Global Perspective on Theory and Practice . SAGE Publications . 2017.
  2. Book: Kurian . George Thomas . Lamport . Mark A. . Encyclopedia of Christianity in the United States, Volume 5 . Rowman & Littlefield . 2016.
  3. Book: Wuthnow, Robert . Boundless Faith: The Global Outreach of American Churches . University of California Press . 2009.
  4. Samaritan's Purse, Samaritan’s Purse Overview Fact Sheet, samaritanspurse.org, USA, retrieved November 5, 2022
  5. Web site: December 2020 . Financial Disclosure Report . Samaritan's Purse.
  6. Book: Lee, Haemin . International Development and Public Religion: Changing Dynamics of Christian Mission in South Korea . Wipf and Stock Publishers . 2016.
  7. Samaritan's Purse, About us, samaritanspurse.org, USA, retrieved November 5, 2022
  8. Web site: Haynes: Franklin Graham: Still a rebel with a cause . 2021-10-10 . MSN News . en.
  9. Book: Crump, William . The Christmas Encyclopedia. 3d . McFarland . 2001.
  10. Book: Buckley . Christian . Dobson . Ryan . Humanitarian Jesus: Social Justice and the Cross . Moody Publishers . 2010.
  11. Book: King, David P. . God's Internationalists: World Vision and the Age of Evangelical Humanitarianism . University of Pennsylvania Press . 2019.
  12. Web site: Can you believe it? Operation Christmas Child celebrates tonight for the 100 million shoeboxes delivered to poor children around the world! Congrats to Reverend Franklin Graham, Samaritan's Purse everyone who helped and helps. April 6, 2013. Gretawire. June 11, 2015. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20150612201802/http://gretawire.foxnewsinsider.com/2013/04/06/can-you-believe-it-operation-christmas-child-celebrates-tonight-for-the-100-million-shoeboxes-deliver-to-children-around-the-world-congrats-to-reverend-franklin-graham-samaritans-purse-everyone/. June 12, 2015. mdy-all.
  13. Web site: Operation Christmas Child/Children's Evangelistic Rallies. Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. Occupying Till He Returns. 1998. Thousands of children were touched in 1998 by Operation Christmas Child, a project that ministers to both the physical and spiritual needs of children around the world... In conjunction with the distribution of shoe box gifts, BGEA International Ministries often arranges Children's Evangelistic Rallies, which include a presentation of "The Greatest Gift of All." In this lively program, a young boy learns about God, His creation and His gift of salvation through Jesus Christ. At the end of the program, children are invited to become God's friends by accepting the forgiveness He provides through His Son. Trained volunteers meet with each child who responds. Rallies took place in Romania and in hurricane-ravaged Nicaragua and Peru. Total attendance at the rallies was 245,000, with more than 42,000 inquirers..
  14. Web site: "Operation Christmas Child is one of the best evangelistic tools because it is a gift," ministry partner Victor Kulbich said. "It opens the door to telling about Jesus." . Sharing Christ's Love Through Operation Christmas Child . Samaritan's Purse 2003 Ministry Report . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20040510160417/http://www.samaritanspurse.org/about/pdf/AR2003.pdf . May 10, 2004 .
  15. Web site: Discover The Greatest Journey . The journey to faith begins when children are offered Gospel storybooks during Operation Christmas Child gift distributions. The most far-reaching impact comes later, when boys and girls are invited to participate in the voluntary Bible study course produced by Samaritan's Purse... The 12-lesson set guides children through a study of who Jesus Christ is, what it means to follow Him, and how to share this exciting message with others. After children complete the program, they are presented with a personalized certificate. To help these boys and girls continue to grow in their faith, we want to provide them with their very own copies of the Greatest Gift of All New Testament. This special edition also includes selected Old Testament stories, a dictionary, and a section that encourages the children to memorize Scripture. All of the materials used for The Greatest Journey are provided at the request of local churches and ministry partners. Millions of boys and girls have indicated that they have committed their lives to Jesus Christ after receiving shoe box gifts and participating in our follow-up program. By sharing their faith one-on-one, these children in turn lead friends and relatives to Jesus Christ . https://web.archive.org/web/20131022191843/http://www.samaritanspurse.org/operation-christmas-child/about-the-greatest-journey/ . October 22, 2013 . unfit .
  16. Web site: Education: Parents angry at evangelicals' charity scheme. Polly. Curtis. The Guardian. 8 November 2009.
  17. News: Top 10 Reasons to Pack an Operation Christmas Child Shoebox! - Pedro Carrion. 2016-11-18. Pedro Carrion. 2017-12-18. en-US.
  18. News: Blinder. Alan. American Doctor With Ebola Arrives in U.S. for Treatment. August 3, 2014. The New York Times. August 2, 2014.
  19. News: Neal. Dale. Samaritan's Purse evacuating 60 from Ebola outbreak. August 3, 2014. Asheville Citizen-Times. August 1, 2014.
  20. News: McCay. Betsey. Peace Corps, Aid Groups Evacuate Personnel From Ebola-Hit West Africa. August 3, 2014. The Wall Street Journal. July 31, 2014.
  21. News: Walker . Jade . Kent Brantly, American Doctor Treated For Ebola, To Be Released From U.S. Hospital . August 21, 2014 . . TheHuffingtonPost.com . August 21, 2014.
  22. David Cenciotti, Rare Samaritan’s Purse DC-8 Cargo Aircraft Airlifts An Emergency Field Hospital to Italy For COVID-19 Pandemic, theaviationist.com, USA, March 18, 2020
  23. News: Shimron . Yonat . Smietana . Bob . September 9, 2022 . Purse became a $1 billion humanitarian aid powerhouse . Religious News Service . September 10, 2022.
  24. Web site: Charity Navigator Rating - Samaritan's Purse . Charitynavigator.org . August 9, 2014.
  25. Web site: Franklin Graham: No interest in federal money meant for WHO. 2020-05-09. Yahoo! News. en.
  26. Web site: Oakes . Anna . Samaritan's Purse expands at Wilkes airport . 2022-06-05 . Watauga Democrat . en.
  27. Web site: Aircraft Inquiry . 2022-06-05 . registry.faa.gov.
  28. Web site: Hubbard . Jule . $1.5 million okayed for new taxiway . 2022-06-05 . journalpatriot . en.
  29. Web site: Hubbard . Jule . Samaritan growing at airport . 2022-06-05 . journalpatriot . en.
  30. Web site: N782SP Samaritan's Purse Douglas DC-8-60/70 . 2022-06-05 . www.planespotters.net . en.
  31. Web site: Aircraft Inquiry . 2022-06-05 . registry.faa.gov.
  32. Web site: Fact Sheet: DC-8 . 2022-06-05 . Samaritan's Purse . en-US.
  33. Web site: New Aircraft Hangar Dedicated in Kenya . 2022-06-05 . Samaritan's Purse . en-US.
  34. Web site: Samaritan's Purse in Alaska . 2022-06-05 . Samaritan's Purse Video.
  35. Web site: Aircraft Inquiry . 2022-06-05 . registry.faa.gov.
  36. Web site: N740KD (LEARJET INC 45 owned by ELIJAH G6 LLC) Aircraft Registration . 2022-06-05 . FlightAware . en.
  37. Web site: 12ft . 2022-06-05 . 12ft.io.
  38. Web site: Pallini . Thomas . The controversial charity setting up hospital tents in NYC uses a 51-year-old plane to transport COVID-19 supplies. Take a closer look at its DC-8. . 2022-06-04 . . en-US.
  39. Web site: Charity Navigator - Rating for Samaritan's Purse . 2022-06-05 . www.charitynavigator.org . en-US.
  40. News: Christine . Wicker . 2015-08-18 . Why Franklin Graham's salary raises eyebrows among Christian nonprofits . en-US . . 2022-06-05 . 0190-8286 . dead . https://archive.today/20211209203053/https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/religion/why-franklin-grahams-salary-raises-eyebrows-among-christian-nonprofits/2015/08/18/023ce940-45f2-11e5-9f53-d1e3ddfd0cda_story.html . 9 December 2021.
  41. Web site: Goodstein . Laurie . Top Evangelicals Critical Of Colleagues Over Islam . . May 8, 2003 . February 28, 2010.
  42. Web site: Muir . Hugh . Co-op cuts Christmas box link with US charity . . November 29, 2003 . February 28, 2010 . London.
  43. Web site: icWales . Red-faced MP dumps Islam-bashing charity . November 5, 2006 . February 28, 2010.
  44. Web site: Vardy . David . Being good Samaritans . . November 18, 2003 . February 28, 2010 . London.
  45. Web site: McCurry . Patrick . Presents imperfect . . December 18, 2002 . August 29, 2017 . London.
  46. Web site: McGreal . Chris . Sarah Palin visits crisis-hit Haiti . . December 12, 2010 . London.
  47. Web site: Healy . Alison . Christmas aid group rejects criticism . . October 2009 .
  48. Web site: Uncle Sam may be indirectly funding religious conversion in India. Firstpost. 27 March 2015.
  49. Web site: Parents want Christian charity out of public schools . November 25, 2002 . . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090416172910/http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2002/11/25/xmas_charity021125.html . April 16, 2009 . mdy-all .
  50. Web site: Grossman . Lynn . Billy Graham's son takes the pulpit, his own way . . March 2006 . August 29, 2017.
  51. Web site: . Shoe box charity in religious row . October 23, 2003 . August 29, 2017 . BBC News Online.
  52. Web site: Associated Press, File . Franklin Graham moves to address concerns about his $1.2 million pay packages . 8 October 2009 . cleveland.com . August 9, 2014.
  53. Web site: Funk . Tim . CHARLOTTE: Franklin Graham gives up one of two nonprofit salaries | Religion . . August 9, 2014 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140413133024/http://www.newsobserver.com/2009/10/11/135787/franklin-graham-gives-up-one-of.html . April 13, 2014 . mdy-all .
  54. Web site: Tim Funk, Ames Alexander . Franklin Graham takes pay he once gave up . The Charlotte Observer . August 8, 2015 . August 31, 2015.
  55. News: Darfur kidnapping victim sues aid group that sent her . . May 19, 2011 . August 29, 2017 .
  56. Web site: Rix. Matt. Perspectives: Standard of care rising for employees in threat elevated areas. businessinsurance.com. Business Insurance. August 4, 2014 . January 29, 2013.
  57. Web site: John Boyle . Graham says IRS targeted his non-profits with audits . . May 16, 2013 . August 10, 2021.
  58. Web site: Franklin Graham . Document: Graham writes Obama about IRS profiling . . May 14, 2013 . August 17, 2021.
  59. Web site: Fund-raiser Thankyou Water drops support for evangelical group . Battersby . Lucy . 20 August 2013 . . 16 November 2017.
  60. News: . Legal News . 13 . Private Eye . London . October 17, 2014.
  61. Web site: An emergency field hospital to treat COVID-19 patients is opening in NYC's Central Park. Reyes. Lorenzo. USA Today. en-US. 2020-04-01.
  62. Web site: Samaritan's Purse Central Park field hospital takes in first patient in coronavirus fight. Rambaran. Vandana. Fox News. April 1, 2020. 2020-04-11.
  63. Web site: Corbella: Canadians helping in the centre of Italy's COVID-19 storm. Corbella. Licia. Calgary Herald. March 26, 2020. 2020-04-11.
  64. Web site: Coronavirus: Gay-rights activist arrested protesting at New York field hospital run by controversial Christian group. Vallejo. Justin. The Independent. April 6, 2020. 2020-04-11.
  65. Web site: Samaritan's Purse jet lands in Alaska with massive shipment of medical gear for coronavirus response. Rulz. Michael. April 7, 2020. Fox News. April 11, 2020.
  66. Web site: Samaritan's Purse donates over 17,000 pounds of medical supplies to Alaska. Leseman. Matt. April 8, 2020. Microsoft News. April 11, 2020.
  67. Web site: Governor Dunleavy Thanks Samaritan's Purse for Medical Supplies. April 6, 2020. April 11, 2020.
  68. Web site: What it's like inside the Central Park field hospital in New York City: 'Our country is in a war'. Anna. Miller. Business Insider. April 9, 2020. April 11, 2020.
  69. Web site: Samaritan's Purse, in Collaboration with Mount Sinai Health System, Opens Emergency Field Hospital in New York's Central Park in Response to the Coronavirus Pandemic. Mount Sinai Hospital. April 1, 2020. 2020-04-11.
  70. News: Stack. Liam. Fink. Sheri. 2020-05-10. Franklin Graham Is Taking Down His N.Y. Hospital, but Not Going Quietly. en-US. The New York Times. 2020-05-10. 0362-4331.
  71. Web site: Coronavirus: Radical evangelist who says gays will burn in 'flames of hell' builds Covid-19 hospital in Central Park. Riota. Chris. April 1, 2020. The Independent. April 11, 2020.
  72. News: New Yorkers Are Right to Be Skeptical of Evangelical-Run Coronavirus Ward in Central Park. Merritt. Jonathan. April 2, 2020. The Daily Beast. April 11, 2020.
  73. Web site: The group building tents for coronavirus treatment in Central Park says its medical staff must adhere to Christian beliefs, sparking condemnation online. Greenspan. Rachel. March 31, 2020. Business Insider. April 11, 2020.
  74. Web site: Bias and health care don't mix: Samaritan's Purse shouldn't be welcome in New York, not even to treat the coronavirus. McGovern. Terry. Battistini. Emily. April 7, 2020. New York Daily News. April 11, 2020.
  75. Web site: Be a good Samaritan: N.Y. lawmaker calls out minister for anti-LGBTQ remarks. McGovern. Terry. Slattery. Denis. March 30, 2020. New York Daily News. April 11, 2020.
  76. Web site: Offenhartz . Jake . 2020-03-30 . Group Behind Central Park Coronavirus Tent Hospital Asks Volunteers To Support Anti-Gay Agenda . 2020-03-31 . . en.
  77. Web site: staff/jake-offenhartz . 2020-03-31 . De Blasio "Very Concerned" About Anti-Gay Evangelical Group Running Central Park Coronavirus Hospital . 2020-04-01 . . en.
  78. News: Brown . Matthew . Fact check: Does Christian aid group require COVID-19 responders to sign anti-LGBTQ statement? . 10 March 2022 . USA Today.
  79. Web site: Protester Arrested At Central Park Tent Hospital Tied To Anti-Gay Evangelical Franklin Graham. Papenfuss. Mary. April 7, 2020. HuffPost. April 11, 2020.
  80. Web site: Catholic group slams de Blasio for questioning Christian charity's New York coronavirus field hospital. Chakraborty. Barnini. April 3, 2020. Fox News. April 11, 2020.
  81. Web site: Group behind NYC's COVID-19 field hospital run by antigay evangelist. NBC News. en. 2020-04-01.
  82. Web site: Protester arrested at NYC COVID-19 field hospital run by anti-gay evangelist. Sopelsa. Brooke. April 6, 2020. NBC News. April 11, 2020.
  83. News: Stack. Liam. Fink. Sheri. May 10, 2020. Franklin Graham Is Taking Down His N.Y. Hospital, but Not Going Quietly. en-US. The New York Times. May 10, 2020. 0362-4331.
  84. News: Yensi. Amy. May 3, 2020. LGBTQ Advocates Hold Protest as Samaritan's Purse Winds Down Coronavirus Outreach. en-US. NY1.
  85. Web site: Coronavirus: New York cathedral to become a field hospital. Bailey. Sarah. April 7, 2020. The Independent. April 11, 2020.
  86. Web site: Plan for Cathedral Hospital Stalls Amid Concern Over Evangelical Role. Stack. Liam. April 9, 2020. The New York Times. April 11, 2020.